advice needed

hey sam....

try out the marantz with the diamonds...i heard they are good for the diamonds but havnt experienced them yet.....give it a try.....

edges

Whats the amount are you willing to spend ?

say around 20 or 25K? The rest i will save for a good deck!
Thanks
Sammy

For that money..one choice...NAD C320bee.........You should get it around 19k.This will outperform most amps around 30k.

Thanks...is it available in bangalore and if so where? Any suggestions on a good cd deck to pair up with this combo?

I guess it is available with music ranch in Jayanagar.I don’t know their contact details. Someone on the forum might be able to help out. If you have the budget, get the C521bee cd player and you have a deadly combo. I guess the cd player sells for around 16k. I am not sure………..Even a marantz entry level player would match quite well. Keep aside some cash for the interconnect and decent speaker cables also…You need good stands also for the speakers for them to perform to their optimal level.

square_wave schrieb:

For that money..one choice...NAD C320bee.........You should get it around 19k.This will outperform most amps around 30k.

An amplifier for the same price will be the Cambridge Azur A 540. I heard it together with these Wharfedale 9.1 and it was a perfect combination. Just listen to it!

BR DA

square_wave schrieb:

I guess it is available with music ranch in Jayanagar.I don’t know their contact details. Someone on the forum might be able to help out. If you have the budget, get the C521bee cd player and you have a deadly combo. I guess the cd player sells for around 16k.

Right, you can get NAD from Music Ranch, Jayanagar 3rd Block (very near to Jayanagar 4th Block Market complex)...but it is (21k as quoted) and you may not get to audition it there. The guy at the store promised me he will be able to get it if I order.

NAD CD player is 17k (quote from same shop). But if you take 'em together you may burgain...

Yes, Cambridge audio is also a good option. In fact the NAD and CA are the best budget amps out there…….both are voiced differently though. I find the CA to be a bit laid back in its presentation while the NAD is a bit more punchy. Listen to both and decide for yourself…..

[quote="diskspinner"]NAD CD player is 17k (quote from same shop). But if you take 'em together you may burgain...images/smilies/insane.gif[/quote]

Sonodyne listening room at "The Forum" also stocks this CDP, they quote around 16k. You can audition them also as they use it as their standard cdp for demo.

IMHO the cambridge well-balanced regarding tonality. It is easier to locate instruments with the cambridge. I prefer this kind of performance. Therefore I recommend to listen to both amps. Everbody must make his onw decision, because listing is a subjective perception.

BR DA

thanks for all the suggestions...very empowering for a newbie!
Just a small clarification...heard that NAD 320BEE doesnt have an input socket for phono. Is that true? Have a huge collection of lovely lps and it would be a pity if I cant listen to them! Any suggestions about amps that do have a phono input?

nad does have a separate phone stage for tt's.

sammygeorge schrieb:

Any suggestions about amps that do have a phono input?

Optional MM phono available. Pls. have a look here:
http://www.audioplusservices.com/campbridge/540A.htm

Or on the cambridge page:
http://www.cambridge...tegrated%20amplifier

BR DA

None of the budget audiophile grade amps like NAD and Cambridge audio will come with an inbuilt phono stage. To give you a phono stage of equal caliber as the amp, they will need to increase the price quite a bit. So it is an option. Do not confuse this with cheap/useless phono stages which comes bundled with Japanese mass-market amps. There is no cheap way out for good phono sound. You will need a dedicated phono stage or you need to pick up expensive amps with good phono stages.

welcomesuggestions for cabling the wharfedale 9.1 and NAD 320 BEE...thanks

I would suggest you try out qed from profx....nice interconnects at decent prices. monster is always there. then there is Mr murthy who is pretty well known in bangalore and then there is vdh, vivanco, and many more....

manek.

Dear Sammy,

Well, if you are looking for an decent amp to drive the 9.1
with a phono input, then take a look at the Marantz PM4400.
Although it is rated at 30 watts, believe me its a very
conservative rating. The Marantz can easily drive the 9.1.

The other options would be Nad and Cambridge Audio.
These are one of the finest amps available at this price.
Nad has a seperate phono pre amp available.
On the cambridge audio, a phono stage can be fitted in the amp.

On the cables and interconnects you could opt for qed or vdh.

Do let us know what is it you opt for.

Regards
Jay

Go for ordinary cables with more numbner of strands. u get wires with 180 strands for 30 bucks a meter..give it a try before spending a shitload on some fancy speaker wire.
regarding the interconnects, don't go overboard on those either. always remmeber that cables and all otehr snake oil items are secondary to your speakers and source and room.

My setup:

Wharfedale Diamond 8.1
Marantz SR4400
QED cabling

It's fantastic. What detail. I imagine it'll be a tad better with the 9.1s

The 9.1 has better detail and lowend, but found the imaging to be better in the 8.1.

Really? I heard the 9.1 was better overall. Imaging and soundstage included. While I have demo'd the 9.1 at Designer Audio, I couldn't quite tell the difference 'cos I'm so used to listening to my 8.1s in the home environment. Guess I'll be able to if I did an AB of both in the same room.

doesn't mean that what i say is a postulate.
see and judge for urself...just gave my view on this ..that's all..

Btw, are u the same sharukh from ecoustics?

Sorry to sound so naive...whats the difference between cables and interconnectors? I thought that cables are for connecting the amp to the speaker and to deck. Then what are interconnectors for? Are these cables cheap in UAE? I have a close friend there and can ask him to pick up.

Cables are the wires that connect amplifier to the speakers. Interconnects are wires that connect source (a CD player, a tuner, a cassette deck, a record player, the pre-out of another amplifier etc.,) to the amplifier. Cables carry higher-voltage "speaker-level" output. Interconnects carry low-voltage "line-level" output. If your speakers are located far from your source, and if you have to choose between long cables and long interconnects, the norm in high-end audio is to use long interconnects and short cables.

Interconnects have leads (usually RCA males) on both ends, and to prevent oxidation of the metal surface and the consequent deterioration of sound, they are either nickel or gold plated. There is no qualitative difference acoustically between nickel plated and gold plated leads. Gold-plated leads just look better. Interconnects are available from the fairly cheap Korean & Japanese (Jacob, Sony) ones to the outrageously expensive ones. Sony actually makes fairly decent interconnects of solid construction. The risk of short-circuiting is less with factory-moulded interconnects, than with interconnects having separate wires and leads soldered together.

Cables in high-end audio are usually oxygen-free-copper wires of 12' guage (thickness of the skinned wire, and not with the plastic covering around) or less (lesser the guage, higher the thickness). Some audiophiles use 14' guage also. Cables usually do not contain leads, and are just slipped into the binding posts at the back of the amplifier. Cables should never be short-circuited, or else there will be a KABOOOOMMM...!!!

There is a lot of discussion on whether or not different types of cables and interconnects have a qualitative effect on the sound. Rod Elliot, a well known Australian hi-fi expert and designer, after a lot of study, has concluded that they do not make a difference. But certain other distinguished audiophiles believe they do!

Yes, benekobi, the very same.

Thanks ksvp! So informative and usefull...Now that my doubts are clarified, any suggestions on the cables and the interconnects...which brands? The earlier suggestion was for qed or vdh. Do they hold good for both? Any idea what the cost might be? Sorry to keep pestering...but I am on an upward learnig curve about hifis in the past two days (thanks to this forum and its helpful members)!!