Amp recommendations for B&W CM1 speakers - £600 budget

Bunka · 9 Feb 2016 at 11:09

Hi guys,

My trusty old Denon all in one has died on me and as a result, it's a perfect opportunity for an upgrade.

I'll definitely be auditioning a few amps at my local sevenoaks, but do you knowledgable folk have any recommendations to try? Budget of up to £600.

Current setup is:

Arcam rDAC
Denon DF109 Amp
Van-Damme Blue Series speaker cable
B&W CM1 speakers

I've thought of the following so far:

Marantz PM7005 - Has an inbuilt DAC which will replace an old DAC I have
Rotel RA-12 - Apparently a good match as they're part of the B&W group
Roksan Kandy K2 - I've read mixed reviews about this amp

Any thoughts?

TALON1973 · 9 Feb 2016 at 15:27

Would you consider 2nd hand ? Or does this stuff have to be new ? And unless I read that wrong ... you want to replace the arcam rdac with the inbuilt one in the Marantz ???? :eek:

Bunka · 9 Feb 2016 at 15:48

Sorry, I wasn't that clear

I have two DACs, the rDAC, which is fine and an old no-name one that does the job but the Marantz DAC is meant to actually be really good.

Yeah I'd definitely consider second hand, in fact that's most likely what I'll end up doing.

TALON1973 · 9 Feb 2016 at 15:55

Well in that case maybe look at the arcam a85 I still think that could do good job .

edit ... or you could get the Arcam FMJ A18 Phono Integrated Amplifier ... its on flea bay atm with buy it now of £269

in fact , if that's there tmoz ( payday ) I might get that myself

kidloco · 9 Feb 2016 at 15:57

Of the 3 amps you have shortlisted I would say the Roksan is a clear step above. I owned one for a couple of years and it was a stunning amp for the cash.

( |-| |2 ][ $ · 14 Feb 2016 at 18:07

I have the RA-12 with some CM8's.

Works just great, I demo'd the Roksan at the same time as the RA-12 and was told the Roksan was better but I couldn't tell any difference. I went with the RA-12 because it looked nicer.

I should imagine an RA-11 would be just fine with the CM1's.

George Hincapie · 14 Feb 2016 at 18:42

Buy a pair of Nene Valley Audio A40 Mono Amps, save £150 and thank me later.

They'll destroy all the options you listed.