Mission M71/CA A5 Amp - Good all-round combo?

Emp.Man · 24 Dec 2006 at 13:48

From looking through the very helpful sticky and various other places on the interweb I'm looking to pick up a used pair of M71s and a Cambridge Audio A5 for connecting up to my Audiophile 24/96. Would this be a good general purpose solution? I use my PC for games, films, music and a bit of music making - ideally I'd like to get a better experience in all of those than I get from my Edirol monitors (MA-10A's). Unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere so getting the chance to demo things is pretty rare, plus the fact that the Missions aren't available new now. I'm putting my trust in reviews and opinions really.

My budget is around £150-200 and I'll be buying used, so feel free to offer alternatives that you think might be better

DRZ · 24 Dec 2006 at 17:00

M71s are a fantastic choice.

I had an A5 for a while, good amp for the cost S/H, heard more than a few people complain about the power supplies going pop though. For that budget, you are going to find it tough to get a better value sound unless you strike a serious bargain on some better (but certainly older) kit.

james.miller · 24 Dec 2006 at 17:03

yup, good choices there. The m71's have remained an absolute bargin for a long time now, especially now you can pick them up for ~£50 S/H. That paring really shouldn't fail to impress but as DRZ said, be wary of the power supples in the cambridges. They arent built to last by the looks of it.

Emp.Man · 24 Dec 2006 at 17:33

Hmm, the power supply thing sounds like a bit of a worry.. I'd not heard of that before. If that's the case I could probably stretch to the NAD C320BEE mentioned in the sticky, I'd rather do that than end up having to replace the A5 somewhere down the line.

Budget is a little tight I know, but after a new PC build and a monitor upgrade I can't justify much more. With stuff like this you always fall into the vicious circle of adding a little bit more to get a better component, only to then end up upgrading every other component to match it..

DRZ · 24 Dec 2006 at 19:46

The C320BEE is a little gem. Compared to the (new) competition, its got so much weight. It might show my love for that particular presentation but its just so more pleasant to listen to than the competition from Rotel etc.

Its a shame you cant get anywhere to have a demonstration really.

Emp.Man · 24 Dec 2006 at 19:59

Well, I'm going to be in Leeds over new year so hopefully I'll be able to pop into Sevenoaks and Richer Sounds depending on which days they're open with the holidays. The C320BEE's on the Sevenoaks site so hopefully they'll have one in even though I'll not be able to see what it's like with the speakers I'm getting.

DRZ · 24 Dec 2006 at 20:03

Emp.Man said:
Well, I'm going to be in Leeds over new year so hopefully I'll be able to pop into Sevenoaks and Richer Sounds depending on which days they're open with the holidays. The C320BEE's on the Sevenoaks site so hopefully they'll have one in even though I'll not be able to see what it's like with the speakers I'm getting.

Sevenoaks, Superfi and RS are certainly not the best places to go. RS is perhaps the worst!!

Do a teeny bit of research and see if you can find a back-street "real" hifi shop. Quite often places like this care more about you than they do about "the sale" and are staffed by real audio geeks, not the kind of person that works in somewhere like the three I named above!

Emp.Man · 24 Dec 2006 at 20:07

Hmm, I've lived in Leeds most of my life but I can't think of anywhere like that - but that could well be because I've never particularly looked. I'll have a Google and see if I can turn anywhere up.

Cheers for the help

Emp.Man · 3 Jan 2007 at 23:44

Hmm, seem to have run into a problem with my speaker choice - I've been reading that rear firing bass ports like the Missions have will often cause problems when they're right up against a wall, as mine will have to be. Anyone ever used a pair like that?

squiffy · 3 Jan 2007 at 23:46

DRZ said:
Sevenoaks, Superfi and RS are certainly not the best places to go. RS is perhaps the worst!!

Agreed. All of those are box shifters, and generally give biased "advice" just to get the sale and out of the door.

DRZ · 3 Jan 2007 at 23:54

Emp.Man said:
Hmm, seem to have run into a problem with my speaker choice - I've been reading that rear firing bass ports like the Missions have will often cause problems when they're right up against a wall, as mine will have to be. Anyone ever used a pair like that?

Bung up the ports - old socks will do.

You will lose some depth but with some placement tinkering, it should still be alright

Emp.Man · 3 Jan 2007 at 23:59

Good stuff, I'll probably upgrade to a pair of B2's when I can though.. They sound better suited for where they're going to have to go. I've upped my budget on the amp a bit so I'm now waiting for an Audiolab 8000a to turn up somewhere for a decent price..

squiffy · 4 Jan 2007 at 11:32

DRZ said:
Bung up the ports - old socks will do.

You will lose some depth but with some placement tinkering, it should still be alright

It changes the character of the bass, it'll be totally different and really bass light.

Corasik · 4 Jan 2007 at 12:04

Audiolab 8000a (Or 8000S if you dont mind losing tone controls, but gain remote control) are both great amps.

I use an 8000S on my PC, with Mission 750SE bookshelf speakers, a really nice sound. I've also got a scaled up version of the system for my 5.1 AV setup. Tag AV32R/Audiolab8000m's Mission 753's.

Audiolab isnt to everyones taste, but carefully matched with the right speakers its possible to get a really nice sound, and of course the 8000a does let you tweak it around a bit more, as it still has tone controls.