hi everybody

[kininigin]

i decided to join art of sound after stumbling upon it,as im thinking of going into the pc based music route after 15 years of cd based music so would like some input on what to start with,any ideas anyone?

kininigin.

[DaveK]

Hi kininigan,
Welcome - you are in good company here with an interest in PC based music. Let me be the first to tell you that you need to get a StanDAC (Beresford) 7520 DAC to put between any PC you may get and your amp. The other things that you will be told/asked by others are: -
1) Welcome,
2) what music do you like? and
3) please post some pics of your set-up on the Gallery section, if possible.
Welcome again. :)

[Marco]

Hi Kinnigan,

Welcome to AOS! :) Where are you from, mate?

Marco.

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AOS kininigin

Enjoy the forum get stuck in.


Regards D S D L

[kininigin]

Hi kininigan,
Welcome - you are in good company here with an interest in PC based music. Let me be the first to tell you that you need to get a StanDAC (Beresford) 7520 DAC to put between any PC you may get and your amp. The other things that you will be told/asked by others are: -
1) Welcome,
2) what music do you like? and
3) please post some pics of your set-up on the Gallery section, if possible.
Welcome again. :)

hi dave,
well i mainly listen to electronic,funk,reagae,soul,hip hop some rock also some classical.
im from reading
my system at the moment is arcam alpha 9/9p marantz 63MKII KI and wharfdale pacific evo 20's.

I want to have a total overhaul as i think it's time.I think i will get the beresford dac and see what it can do,then take it from there.

[webby]

Hi Kininigan,

I joined recently and it looks like I'm in the same boat as you, except I have a mac. Check out my welcome post.

Oh, and I'm down the road in Southampton.

[kininigin]

hi webby,let me know what kit you opt for as i would be interested in what you think of todays kit compared to 10-15 year old kit.

[DSJR]

I'd say the best of today's kit is cheaper than fifteen years ago, especially CD players...

I know you want to go the streaming route, but first, I'd change that awful Marantz thingy while it's still working and look out for an Avondale AAA5, which isn't expensive, has a great sound apparently and Les keeps spare mechs too for it. I bet the £250 Cambridge and £350 Rotel would sound rather better too...

Welcome, by the way :)

[kininigin]

hi dave,the avondale AAA5 sounds just like what im looking for in terms of type of sound,but costing around £500 how much better/different is it going to be against a beresford TC 7520 costing £180ish?

Can the beresford match or come close to the avondale in terms of detail,pace and rhythm?

I was leaning towards getting a pair of Avi neutron 5's with amp pak to use with
the beresford,as it has a pre amp.

If i could find an avondale secondhand at the right price what pre amp would you suggest.

As i cannot demo the dac or avondale any help with these questions would be greatly
appreciated.

kininigin

[DSJR]

The AVI N5's are lovely miniatures with a brightly lit, but very clear and uncolured balance. No shrillness at all! The AVI amp packs should work a dream with them and the combination of loads of power and a simple crossover inside the speakers should give you 90% of what they could do if they were actively driven, certainly tons better than some of the small "switching amp" equipped "pro" monitors. I ought to suggest that the N5's plus amp packs are not far short of the ADM9.1 which would answer all your questions as it has both digital inputs (plus a top-grade DAC) and a preamp section for this and a single analogue source. The ADM9.1's have come in for lavish praise by those who own them and lavish vitriol from those that somehow feel threatened by them and AVI's sales director, Ashley James. They're wonderful apparently in typical UK living rooms and a really good sub is available should you require bass you can "feel."

Obviously, you may not get this kind of enthusiasm from the vintage valve-n-vinyl lovers who post here and that's fine by me. It's just that it sometimes seems like were're comparing vintage big-n-thirsty sports cars with the latest safe, computer designed and hyper economical "GTI style hot hatch tin box" which performs the same on the road but has a totally different feel. Both properly and entirely valid, but not really comparable in the wide scheme of things.

I can't say whether the Beresford is as good with CD as the AAA5 and the latter do seem to hold their value, but it's a lot cheaper and you could always buy an Alpha 5 original CD and use it as a superior transport than the marantz (the CDM9 as utilised and set up by Arcam tracks discs to a higher league entirely than the CDM-12 thingy in the CD63 and with less measured jitter - I compared playing back on scratched discs...;))

Hope this makes some sense. it would be good to try a Beresford and take it to AVI or 5 Ways HiFi, where your suggestion of N5/Amp pack and Beresford could be compared with the same source feeding the ADM9.1's. You could then decide for yourself if this is the correct musical route for you to take. To drive long interconnects properly, you really ought to have an actively buffered preamp line stage. using a passive volume control would only be good with very short interconnects of low capacitance. The Apha 9 would do as an interim preamp, but you can do better ( used AVI for ss or possibly WAD, EAR and possibly Croft for valved as a starter - to drive several metres of interconnect - my Croft doesn't like it overmuch!).

For similar money on the vintage route, you could get the Beresford, sell the Arcam amps you have and replace with a WAD valve amp in good used nick (there was one on here) and also get the Tannoy Devons also advertised here - a bit on the wild side, but I have huge respect for good vintage gear - more coloured and "high-maintenance" but SOOOOO enjoyable and "fun!" :)

[kininigin]

Thank's for the info dave,look's like i've got a few decisions to make.I don't think i'll go the vintage route though,as high maintanance kit puts me off.

Although i would love to hear what they can do,especially valve amps as i've
never heard one.Maybe one day i'll invest in one.

kininigin.