Speaker and Power amp setup.

[GoRedwings19]

I am looking to get back into 2 channel setup. It has been a while since I have been involved and I know a lot of OCUK's have 2 channels setups.

I have been for a few auditions of speakers yet I still can't maek up my mind.

I prefer standmount speakers as the room I will be placing them in is small. It measures 3x3m.

I auditioned the B&W 805 signatures and Wilson Benesch Arc's. Out of the two I preferred the Wilson Benesch's. But I was wondering to what other options are available to me. I use to own the Dynaudios 1.3mk2 and thought they were excellent if slightly on the dry side of things.

I have spent time with the dynaudio confidence series, have heard the 801/802's, naims etc.

I quite fancy trying the Sonus Fabers.

In a speaker I look for a warm tonality, dynamics to match, Highs which are detailed but rolled and deep and tight bass.

For a power amp I am looking for transparency and speed. I am looking for an amp which neither adds or subtracts anything from my musical source. As I am happy with my CDP and pre-amp.

I use to own the cyrus pre amp and monoblocks. But I am looking for that something special.

I listen to a wide range of genre's of music so that amp and speaker pairing needs to be an all rounder in performance.

The cdp it will be partnered will be primarily the Burmester 001 or Mark Levinson 31/30.5 cd/dac combo.

Pre amp is by Melos heavily modified and IC's are virtual dynamics master series IC and Nordost Spm reference IC's.

I am out of the loop since I primarily have a headphone setup so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GoRedwings19]

The Cyrus kit is probably a little bit out of it's depth with the Burmester and ML gear and wouldn't be my personal choice.

"Warm tonality and dynamics to match", comes across to me as "a little laid back and not amazingly dynamic". In which case I'm surprised that you prefered the WBs as I'd expect the WBs to be more upfront than the B&Ws.
The SFs sound like another reasonable option, and I've read that some of the new diamond tweeters (in the B&Ws) and equivalents within the SFs are pretty awesome. Any of those will require some pretty good driving amps, and I'd suggest that solid state is probably the way to go.

From what I've heard, I'd suggest you get down to a serious specialist dealer for a listen. Even the normal hi-fi dealer is not going to be able to really comment with a high level of experience about the kit you're talking about. Try looking up coherrent systems and have a chat with a guy called Tony. He's about the most knowledgeable (and opinionated) chap I've come across. He'll certainly help you spend a shed load of dosh with no problem, might also suggest a different CDP as he loves the esoteric gear.

Thanks for the advice. The cyrus was good at the time when I had it quite a few years back for my budget and needs back then.

I have auditioned the emm labs stuff. Have owned the DCS stack, MF tri vista both chord v1.0 and 2 dac amongst a whole lot of stuff. But I have settled on the 001 was my primary playback. It's a very coloured player hence why I enjoy it so much. I know most hi fi lovers would be appalled at the colouration and when I took it in to my local audio excellance dealer he commentated on "it's an old man player"...haha.

I understand that most poeple want a clean and neutral sounding as possible but I find it a fatiguing listen. When I owned the DCS although it was technically very excellent I found it lack something.


For some reason I didn;t find the WB's that upfront or clinical. I thought the B&W's were more forward and the soundstage and imaging aspect not as good as the WB's. I use to own B&W's before and if I were to build a primary setup around the Mark Levinsons then I would choose B&W's. It just with the 001 I found that they didn;t synergise all that well with the B&W's and synergised better with the WB's.

That's not to say the B&W's were, bad far from it.

I am also thinking of getting another source to compliment my setup to give a more cleaner sound than the 001 and possibly sell the ML. I am thinking of maybe something like a Reimyo 777 cdp.

 

[GoRedwings19]

That's some interesting kit that you've had the opportunity to play with. I've heard similar comments about the DCS kit, can't say I'm surprised.
Have a scan at this website, and have a chat with the contact listed:
http://www.coherent-systems.co.uk/

These guys really have played with seemingly everything worth checking out and can probably do a good job of giving you some idea of kit to listen to. In addition, they have some very interesting kit that they sell, including some of the best stuff I've heard.

Ref the Reimyo, I got the impression that it was a very natural sounding player, which might not match well with your preference of "coloured".
Have to say that at that price range, I'd be looking to buy a complete and matched system (not necessarily from the same manufacturer, but matched from an audio synergy perspective).
My personal preference would be something like the Esoteric X-01 (huge levels of detail and very ballsy), matched with either:
- Full set of Bel canto semi dig amps and matching speakers, or
- Border patrol valves into Living voice speakers
Just remember that I highly value dynamics in a system, and IMO nothing beats a good pair of horn loaded speakers for dynamics, regardless of the electronics driving them.

I did consider very seriously Martin Logans. For the transparency and detailed aspect presentation of sound. Two things put me off it in the end. The relative lack of bass impact compared to dynamic speakers. Also the sweet spot is very small I find but if you can sit in it all the time the speakers "dissappear". Yet if you move slightly out of it the whole coherency of soundstage width, depth collapses.

I am thinking of using either Jeff Rowlands amps or pass labs. Yet at the same time conrad johnson and DartZeel amps are never far away from my thoughts.

I did consider the Esoterics with the reimyo and emm labs for that more cleaner sound.

The emm labs when I auditioned it lived up to it supporters claims and also the detractors. It was dynamically explosive, fast, clean. From that point of view I thought it was superb.

For Esoteric I would consider the p-03/d-03 combo.

And I am very intrigued by the MBL transport/dac.

But like you said audio synergy is what will affect the outcome the most. I am a big believer in this and for me that's priceless.