Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2019 9:06:42 GMT
Looks interesting. What do they usually go for? These crop up so seldom it's tricky to put a price on them. I'd personally aim to get one at around £200. Might pay a little more.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2019 15:54:37 GMT
Looks interesting. What do they usually go for? These crop up so seldom it's tricky to put a price on them. I'd personally aim to get one at around £200. Might pay a little more. Thanks I'll keep an eye on it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2019 23:14:02 GMT
Clearing out the loft yesterday I came across my old Nad tuner and decided to connect it up.
IMG_0092 by
IMG_0094 by
IMG_0093 by
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2019 23:34:26 GMT
I like NAD gear. It's decent honest stuff and generally sounds pretty good.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2019 23:37:20 GMT
Don't forget to keep an eye on that Kingrex pre-amp, the sale ends tomorrow. Looks like it will go cheap. Like I said, they are few and far between and most folk haven't a clue about them.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,142
|
Post by Bigman80 on Dec 1, 2019 0:23:28 GMT
Big fan of NAD gear. Didn't realise how good my NAD 312 was untill way down the upgrade path.
Honest, as Geoff said.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2019 1:11:17 GMT
Oh Tara , that's a well sexy tuner ! Very nice. Keep it and kiss it. Actually, you can give me a xmas kiss aswell. 😙 ..Or I'll ban you. 😁
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Dec 1, 2019 6:25:29 GMT
Yes, it's a handsome tuner alright.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2019 18:27:49 GMT
Don't forget to keep an eye on that Kingrex pre-amp, the sale ends tomorrow. Looks like it will go cheap. Like I said, they are few and far between and most folk haven't a clue about them. Actually lost out on the Kingrex Walpurgis. I might try just a 'pot in a box' though if I can find a decent one.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2019 18:49:09 GMT
Don't forget to keep an eye on that Kingrex pre-amp, the sale ends tomorrow. Looks like it will go cheap. Like I said, they are few and far between and most folk haven't a clue about them. Actually lost out on the Kingrex Walpurgis. I might try just a 'pot in a box' though if I can find a decent one. Yes, it went for a bit more than I expected. If you want a pot in a box, you could do worse than the £25 Little Bear passive as long as one input is all you need. Mine sounds just fine.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2019 0:30:07 GMT
Actually lost out on the Kingrex Walpurgis. I might try just a 'pot in a box' though if I can find a decent one. Yes, it went for a bit more than I expected. If you want a pot in a box, you could do worse than the £25 Little Bear passive as long as one input is all you need. Mine sounds just fine. Thanks I'll take a look.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2019 22:04:30 GMT
Next year if I can find another for reasonable money again I'm going to be on the look out for another Nad c372 or c272 to use as a bridged mono pair to better drive my Dyns.
I'd like to try something passive for the pre as I feel that's where really big improvements can be made with these Nad amps. The Little Bear looks excellent value and for £25 I'll give it a try
but long term I might either attempt a DIY build or commision one from an engineers/designer on one of the hifi forums.
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Dec 14, 2019 11:37:34 GMT
You could always try one from BTE (Vinyl Ant on HFS)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2020 21:43:19 GMT
I've been playing around with a few streaming ideas this year and also as mentioned above I've been toying with the idea of getting a pre amp to bypass the pre amp section of my Nad C372 which I suspect is a bit of a weak spot.
So far i've tried a Chromecast Audio connected to a Musical Fidelity V DAC and a Fiio DAP both bare and connected to the V DAC both are pretty decent but not quite 100% what I'm looking for both sound wise and user interface.
So I've just bought an open box Yamaha WXC-50 streaming preamp which might hopefully improve both pre and streaming. It has buit in connection to Tidal, Quboz and a host of other streaming services as well as Bluetooth, Airplay and Yamaha's own Musicast system it also can play files via a USB stick and can be used both as a pre amp streamer and just as a player bypassing the pre amp section. I believe it has a Sabre ESS DAC onboard which is either very bright or fantastic depending on who you listen to but for £181 it has to be worth a punt.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 5:28:50 GMT
I got the Yamaha WXC-50 yesterday so far I only have it connected up as a player via it's digital out into to my Musical Fidelity VDAC. Set up was incredibly easy after downoading the Musicast app onto my iphone I connected the streamer via an ethernet cable to my Virgin router it took a matter of seconds to link up with my phone and after signing in to my Tidal I was playing music, switching between streaming services is very easy I've yet to use the Airplay function but have tried Bluetooth and played files loaded onto a USB stick.
As always the sound depends on the particular file you are playing Charlie Haden and Jim Hall's 1990 live recording from the Montreal Jazz Festival released on Impulse 2014 streamed using the Tidal app so 16/44 sounds really very good, unfortunately it wasn't released on vinyl and as I don't have a CDP I've nothing to compare it to but it's as good a quality as I've heard on Tidal as is Dabeull's excellent electric funk EP Intimate Fonk both have really deep bass lines that are rendered as full and rounded as you could wish for on equipment of this level.
I've signed up for a free month on Quboz and am so far I'm really impressed I played Grant Green's Idle Moments which I was playing the other night on vinyl and again for a stream it sounded pretty decent Bobby Hutcherson's vibes sounded especially real and life like. I've yet to try Quboz's High Res files but will try some over the next few days and compare them to Tidal's version.
Lastly I played a DSD 64 file of Carmen Gomes Inc's - Carmen Sings the Blues which is a cover of Harry Belefonte's exellent 'Sings the blues' LP and though neither the Yamaha or the V DAC can play DSD files they played this LP beautifully it was recorded in studio live and released by the Dutch digital label Sound Liason it's the best sounding digital record that I own and is as close to a real vinyl record as I've heard ever.
I'll try out the pre amp section of the WXC-50 as well as it's other functions in the next week or so but even if I just end up using it as a network player connected to a DAC then for less than £200 it's excellent value. I used to have both a Naim ND5XS and a Unitiqute 2 connected up to a Chord 2Qute and though I'm only going on memory here the Yamaha WXC-50 compares favourably to both.
|
|
|
Post by macca on Apr 6, 2020 7:22:34 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2020 6:23:52 GMT
Unfortunately the pre amp section of the Yamaha let it down in my set up and wasn't even as good as the Nad c372's own one also the DAC section although very good was only equal to my V DAC/V PSU so ultimately I decided to return the unit and spend the money on a phono stage at this time, I'm still sure that the Nad would benefit from from a preamp ubgrade but connecting it all back up reminded me what a great amp the Nad c372 is . The ASR review macca mentions is for the WXA-50 which has an ICE 125 watt power amp section there is one of these on Amazon at the moment with a damaged box for £208 which is great value for a second system.
I'm now looking for a decent valve phono stage preferably one I can demo or at least on the understanding that if it does not work in my system that I can return after no more than a couple of weeks. Unfortunately my budget isn't huge around the £300 - £400 mark which I realise isn't a huge amount but is still enough to add some valve phono stage lovliness to my system.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,142
|
Post by Bigman80 on Apr 11, 2020 7:03:27 GMT
Unfortunately the pre amp section of the Yamaha let it down in my set up and wasn't even as good as the Nad c372's own one also the DAC section although very good was only equal to my V DAC/V PSU so ultimately I decided to return the unit and spend the money on a phono stage at this time, I'm still sure that the Nad would benefit from from a preamp ubgrade but connecting it all back up reminded me what a great amp the Nad c372 is . The ASR review macca mentions is for the WXA-50 which has an ICE 125 watt power amp section there is one of these on Amazon at the moment with a damaged box for £208 which is great value for a second system. I'm now looking for a decent valve phono stage preferably one I can demo or at least on the understanding that if it does not work in my system that I can return after no more than a couple of weeks. Unfortunately my budget isn't huge around the £300 - £400 mark which I realise isn't a huge amount but is still enough to add some valve phono stage lovliness to my system. I could put a Bigbottle MK2 together for you in that budget, but youd have to find some valves. 2x PCC88 and 1x ECC83
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2020 10:36:38 GMT
Unfortunately the pre amp section of the Yamaha let it down in my set up and wasn't even as good as the Nad c372's own one also the DAC section although very good was only equal to my V DAC/V PSU so ultimately I decided to return the unit and spend the money on a phono stage at this time, I'm still sure that the Nad would benefit from from a preamp ubgrade but connecting it all back up reminded me what a great amp the Nad c372 is . The ASR review macca mentions is for the WXA-50 which has an ICE 125 watt power amp section there is one of these on Amazon at the moment with a damaged box for £208 which is great value for a second system. I'm now looking for a decent valve phono stage preferably one I can demo or at least on the understanding that if it does not work in my system that I can return after no more than a couple of weeks. Unfortunately my budget isn't huge around the £300 - £400 mark which I realise isn't a huge amount but is still enough to add some valve phono stage lovliness to my system. I could put a Bigbottle MK2 together for you in that budget, but youd have to find some valves. 2x PCC88 and 1x ECC83 Thanks Let me look into those valves. Do you have a demo unit?
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,142
|
Post by Bigman80 on Apr 11, 2020 11:24:18 GMT
I could put a Bigbottle MK2 together for you in that budget, but youd have to find some valves. 2x PCC88 and 1x ECC83 Thanks Let me look into those valves. Do you have a demo unit? I dont have a Demo unit, sorry. The MK2 PCB is sitting on my shelf with no transformer, enclosure etc, so thought I'd make the offer. I'm not happy to post my unit out for demo, especially in the current climate, so I understand if a home demo is a deal breaker. Saying that, I'm not sure what else you'll buy that will allow a home demo?
|
|
|
Post by macca on Apr 11, 2020 11:39:28 GMT
Anything you buy on line/mail order (unless it is custom-made) you can return within 14 days, you don't need to have a reason.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,142
|
Post by Bigman80 on Apr 11, 2020 13:25:30 GMT
Anything you buy on line/mail order (unless it is custom-made) you can return within 14 days, you don't need to have a reason. Yeah obviously, but what valve phonostage are you buying new for £3/400 that's gonna be any good?
|
|
|
Post by macca on Apr 11, 2020 14:17:35 GMT
No idea mate, what I know about phonostages you can write on a postcard.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,142
|
Post by Bigman80 on Apr 11, 2020 14:20:19 GMT
No idea mate, what I know about phonostages you can write on a postcard. In large font? ;D lol... Seriously, I just wondered what valve pjono, for £3/400 you could buy, that could be returned if you didnt like it? And be good.....I cant think of any
|
|
|
Post by macca on Apr 11, 2020 16:33:01 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2020 16:42:17 GMT
I've had a few offers David Coe at AD Audio has offered to send me a WAD Phono 3 or his LCR based stage (which is a bit out of my price range)to demo if I pay courier costs and a refundable deposit and I've also had a similar offer on a Ming Da 767 which has been reworked by David Shaw formerly of Icon Audio now at at Ming Da. Other than that I've had a few offers of other stages an Icon Audio PS1 and a Puresound P10 both within budget but without the offer of a demo.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2020 17:09:04 GMT
I'm sure there are valve phono stages in the £300 - £400 range that sound good to lots of people's ears and totalyl Sh#t to others it's all subjective. I know the Croft at a bit more is very highly regarded but of course the real best buys are on the used market which is why I almost always buy used.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,142
|
Post by Bigman80 on Apr 11, 2020 17:44:15 GMT
If you can find someone to give you a demo of a decent valve phonostage for £400, you should let us all know who does it, because its bound to be beneficial to some people.
The funny thing about this game, is that there arent many small manufacturers or shed builders like me, that have a stock of items to just send out to people who want to see if they want to buy it.
It's a tough gig to try and sell anything!
Anyway, good luck with the search. I hope you land lucky.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,142
|
Post by Bigman80 on Apr 12, 2020 0:39:24 GMT
I see you did.
Strange things happening with Tapatalk today.....
Carry on
|
|
|
Post by sq225917 on Apr 12, 2020 12:55:46 GMT
David shaw owns icon audio, at least he did last month.
|
|