UPGRADE

hey francis....the quad 99 and 909 amp will only help you move horizontally I think. You need to move up the value chain. Whats your budget like ? thats the key to your answer.

Secondly, I personally like marantz CDP's a lot and love the cd 6000KI. Have you heard the mcormack cdp, RLD-1 line stage and dna-125/250 power amp ?
You obviously feel your 22L speakers are upto the task for something better. I think 22L are splendid speakers for their price, I love them too. Any move up the chain for amps though, may warrant better speakers to do justice, the key word is "may" as you and your ears are the best judge. Have you heard the quad valve amps ? They sounded lovely with the 22L when I heard them.

You want to go valve or solid state ? For valves in Bombay the reliable ones are Cadence VA1.0, Quad, Cayin. I have read in AV max that Jadis is available as well. Audio Note Dacs, CDP and Preamps are available with Oceanic Sound in Pune. Splendid stuff Audio Note.

Manek.

Hi Francis,
Could you give some Idea as to what is the aspect of sound you want to change via the upgrade ? That wy it would be possible to suggest components which would complement thos weak areas.

Typically a Quad99cdp/amp/Quad speakers should sound good as they play to their strengths..but your requirement could be different !

Depending on that as well a your budget, it would be easier to suggest..

Hi! Francis,
You already have a good system. The 6000KI is an amazing CDP if you want to upgrade then look at a LINN pre/pwr and an IKEMI CDP, this will take u three levels up. Stick with ur VDH.

However all this depends on whats ur room side, ur type of music u listen to, the volume u listen to etc. You can also look at the McCormack audio stuff and dynaudio spks. You can also look at the Proac D15, or studio 125s. If u like electrostatics then u have Martin Logans available in Mumbai or Cadence too.

The 22L's are great spks.Listen to ur ears! they are the best judge.
Rgds
Prithvi

hai mannek , arj , prithvi

thank you

my basic idea is to change the cd player (quad cdp)then i thought of making it all quad.

budget for cdp & amp is around 1.5 lacks.

I want an allrounder cd player , i mean one that will play rock and jazz equally well. marantz cd 6000 ki plays jazz very well but not rock, timming is not good enough (well that is what i think).

if i am buying quad cdp - i thought why not 909 too, may be it will have a good synergy (cdp 909 22L).looks like its in my budget too.

DID ANY OF YOU HAPPENED TO LISTEN TO THIS COMBO , if yes can you tell me how it was.(i like very neutral natural sound, i want to know weather its too baasy or its just right.

thank you

hai manek

were you able to listen to audio note & cayin

which cayin amp will work well with q 22 l

bye

I have not heard the QUAD cdp first hand. but a friend I know found it bright for his taste. But then he uses Vincent Monoblocks and a Thiel speaker which are slightly on the neutral side while Quad speakers are on the darker side hence you might get a good synergy there.

Do remember reading a copy of What Hi fi which had given a very high rating to the combo you had mentioned (All Quad) wiht the Quad 12L instead of the 22L and they felt it was very good.

Personally i have found Quad speakers to be too laidback for Rock and more suited towards vocals..hence from your description you may want to try another set of speakers..eg the Proacs and From what I hear about them the Cadence electrostats should be pretty good, before you trash your CDP whicn happens to be quite good and neutral

I have heard the quad cdp 99 with 909 power amp with 22L speakers. very good combo.
If you are thinking of making it an all quad setup then it would be the way to go. I like all my music on the softer warmer side. Dont listen to rock much so i dont bother much with that kind of music. The combo is good for classical, jazz(vocals and instrumental). I still think that you buying a quad cdp with power amp will only give you a bit of a change in sound but wont be a quantum leap in sound.

If you find marantz a bit soft for rock buy a good outboard dac to bypass your internal dac and enjoy. I dont think there is anything wrong with the timing of the marantz 6000ki at all, its just on the softer side. The timing you feel lacking(if at all) would be either your amp or your speakers, mostly speakers. Most speakers lack the bass timing as they are not metaculously time aligned. Hear the the cadence diva/avita/arita or any of the cadence products and you will know what time alignment is all about. I have only heard two speakers till date that show good timing on bass in India...dynaudio to some extent and more so any cadence speaker.
In all other speakers, the bass rhythm of the song is lagging behind the music. Its so apperent ! So dont be blaming your cd player. It just could be another part of your system.

manek.

Hi! Fransis,
My client uses the 99pre+99cdp+909+cadence amaya. He likes the sound and the combo is great for jazz and classical. However for rock I personally will not touch this system, as it is too laid back and good for jazz and classical.

You will find most of the cadence spks laid back which add more worries and the 99 combo is also laid back. There is one only one spk that I have sold from Proac that I thinks is a great alrounder. This is the Studio 125. Today I have more than 10 clients in Bangalore using the same and all their tastes varies from classical to rock, even hindustani classical. If you get a change to listen to them in bombay then call my client Mr. Jeevan Adya who has them. He listens to rock, jazz etc. He has a jeff rowland cosonance pre-amp, aragon 8008MkII 200w pwr amp, Rega hi-end cdp. Send me an email and I will give u his number. Mark my words once u listen to a ProAc you wonder how the hell they are capable to give this outstanding quality for so less.
Rgds

Prithvi