Help me upgrade my amp please!!!

Autor

Beitrag

RajB
Neuling

#1 erstellt: 18. Jan 2005, 17:00

Hi All, I'm new to this forum and I need some help to upgrade my amp....
so here goes...

Where am I:
Mumbai and hence all prices are in INR.

What I have:
Onkyo ds484, b&w 601, Onkyo cd player and Kimber wires, a bachelor's small room, and a budget of around 30K.

Music I listen to:
Rock - from classic to hard and a bit of Jazz too.
Guitar tones are very important to me.

Why do I want to upgrade:
ds484 is a nice amp but it completely lacks base,
does not have great imaging and the tonality for music,
don't think it matches well with b&w metal tweeters, can be too bright and the highs can be very high at higher volumes,
all in all not great for two channel music.
I know I'm asking the wrong amp to do the wrong things, but that's exactly what I want to correct now.

Options:
#1) NAD C320BEE, not heard yet but have auditioned C352
Cost: 20.5K - lowest un-negotiated quote

#2) NAD C352: Auditioned them with PSB(some bookshelf) and
Cadence Arita.... I liked its powerful and dark coloured
sound with the PSB; and very powerful, clean and beautiful
sound with the Arita
Cost: 28K - un-negotiated quote

Rotel:
#3) ra-03 (new model): couldn't audition as the dealer didn't have it but said that he should be getting it in a month.
Cost: The dealer could only guess that it'll be somewhere around 30.

#4) ra-1062: Nice, honest, bit lean. But I honestly think that the bookshelfs, can't remember which, connected to them weren't great.
Cost: 36k - negotiated quote

#5) rc-03+rb-03 : Not heard yet but wondering whether it'll be worth stretching my budget.
Cost: 38k - un-negotiated quote

CA:
#Not an option) Wanted to hear the 640a, but the dealer was more interested in selling me Cayin amps! I heard all
the Cayin amps, ranging from Class A to tubes...... and I still haven't heard the CA!!!
All those Cayin amps sounded very good but they are simply out of my reach.

Questions:
1) Which NAD, 320 or 352 will match best with my 601s? Is there a major diff between 320 and 352?
If I go with #1 I can invest the rest of the money in better interconnects and cables(if needed). But that has to
give better results than #2 with my existing setup. I use
bare wires currently.

2) They say B&W match best with Rotel, would #4 be a good
option? Is it worth stretching my budget over #3?

3) Has anybody heard the rc-03 + rb-03 combo? How is it
compared to say the 1062? Is there any other similar combo
in the range?

4) What should be the best deals for the NADs, Rotel ra-02, ra-1062, rc-03 + rb-03 combo?

I know its a long case I put here, but just wanted to be bit structured. Thanks in advance for helping.

thanks,
Raj.

Manek
Inventar

#2 erstellt: 18. Jan 2005, 18:07

go for the nad, either the 320bee or the 352. Since rock is your staple, the 352 will pack a better punch. I still prefer my 320bee for my kind of music like jazz, classical etc.

Pray why would yo want to chnage your kimbers ?

Sorry but I dont like rotel at all. Just my view.

manek.

Krish
Stammgast

#3 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 07:01

B&W distribute Rotel in the U.K and highly recommend that combination.

The best way to figure this out is to try and see if the dealer is willing to loan you the amp so that you can hook it up with the rest of your system and check for yourself.

In my opinion the NADs have a more lush and warmer sound which would suit Manek since he listens mainly to Jazz and Western Classical fare.I also suspect that he is partial to that warm tonality :)) But is that what you like ?

Also do not audition too much too soon.And don't be in too much of a hurry to decide.Also do not,I repeat do not go by what the dealer says ( fr'instance the Sound Smith chaps who tried to sell you a Cayin, which I think is most unsuited to the kind of music you listen to).Most chaps in B'bay will try and hustle you into making a decision quickly.

Lastly trust only your ears.what sounds good to you is
good !!

Cheers
Krishnan

Manek
Inventar

#4 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 08:36

yep warm sounding amps are my poison. Thats why I am now saving up for the cadence va 1.0 HP tube amp.

yes, trust your ears only. B&W selling rotel in UK may just be a commercial decision and may not suit your tastes.

manek.

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#5 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 14:04

manek how much will u need to buy a cadence tube??r u looking at a upgrade of speakers as well??

Manek
Inventar

#6 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 14:41

The cadence tube va 1.0HP costs near about 70k with taxes. Nope I will not upgrade my speakers in the near future.

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#7 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 14:44

I envy you i would definately visit you when iam in bombay and you gotta gimme a nice 2 hours of your time and i would listen to the beatiful combination of system you have.

RajB
Neuling

#8 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 14:58

thanks guys for the respons.

Krish,
Yes, you are right about most of the dealers in Mumbai, though the guy at J&B Sound is much better and very knowledgeable too.
I too have read a lot about Rotel+B&W but was not all that impressed with them. But I still believe that the speakers were at
fault and would rather wait for ra-03 to be launched in India. Then I can somehow try to audition them all with the B&Ws.
You got any experience with the 1062 or rc-03+rb-03 combo?

Manek,

Reading all your posts it is very apparent that you like the NADs.... and with my current experience even I'm leaning
more towards the NAD. But I would still like to wait for the ra03 and have another go at all of them.
Though the matter of 320 Vs. 352 is still not clear to me.... but I guess I can leave that decision for now and concentrate
more on Rotel Vs. NAD.
Regarding Kimber, well I'm using not so expensive Kimber Kable kwick-16 without any connectors
and was wondering if such a setup is OK or should it be improved. I have absolutely no idea about cables, connectors and Interconnects.

thanks,
Raj.

Manek
Inventar

#9 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 15:18

Raj,

Best to trust your ears only. Dont buy anything in a hurry. its your hard earned money you are putting on the line.

with regards to cables, reserving 10% of your total system budget would be ideal. People have done well for less. Depends on what cables gel with your system.

I use VDH D102MkIII as an interconnect. I have put my transparent wave aside for the moment. Find that the VDH is better with my humble amp and cdp. I went through 3 diiferent sets of interconnect cables before I settled down on the VDH's.

Get the amp you want first and then choose the cables in case you want to upgrade.

manek.