£2k System for classical music

JamPal

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Wammer
Jul 19, 2005
29,607
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Sussex, West Side
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James
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Following piano mans thread. I started thinking about what he could do if he went second hand.

So forum weekend challenge, scour the classifieds, dealer web sites, hififirsale, bargain corners.. etc etc and build piano man a second hand system that would do his (relativley) big room and classical tastes justice.

 

JamPal

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Wammer
Jul 19, 2005
29,607
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Sussex, West Side
AKA
James
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Mine would be as follows:

Opera Callas SP from http://www.ukd.co.uk bargain corner £1175.00

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Musical Fidelity A308 integrated amp from Ant in the classifieds. £850.00

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Stick with current CD player. Save for a Rega Apollo.

 

Matt J

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 7, 2006
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Not Derbyshire
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Sugden A21 (£500 ish), new pair of Stirling V2's (£750 ish) meridian 508.24 (£700 ish) a pair of stands and a few of the decent cheap no bull shit cables that have cropped up, Van Damme/Gotham etc.

 

HectorHughMunro

Wammer
Wammer
Oct 29, 2006
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London, , United Kin
I'd suggest Spendor BC1 or SP1 (£180 and £350 for good ones), Meridian 557 (£750), Meridian 501 (£350), Denon 2900 (£180) and go for 'Something Solid' stands. Musical Fidelity Nuvista or VDH D102 MK 3 interconnect and Cat5e speaker cable.

Also, a Quad FM3 or Armstrong 623 for the Proms.

 

yoda900

Moderator
Wammer Plus
Sep 20, 2005
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Cheshire
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
Kef Reference 3.2 on hifi for sale £1600 in black

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Nad Silverline out of the classifieds

Bit over budget but before haggling.
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Keep CD player.

Would fill a big room with the scale required for classical.

 

technobear

Ursine Wammer
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Sep 11, 2005
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Chris
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The Dynaudio Contour 1.1 is good with big scale orchestral classical. Ask EofS what he thought when I treated him to some Mussorgsky. He kept looking for the sub
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The Triangles are pretty good too but do show up rough recordings. If the recording is good then the Triangles can sound pretty realistic for the money.

 

The Strat

Wammer
Wammer
Aug 17, 2005
13,950
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Buckingham, UK
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Lindsay
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I reckon I'd go for a Rega CDP (I think I prefer over the Naim at the lower price level)/Naim Nait 5i/Dyn Contour 1.3s - would do all genres brilliantly imo.

 

The Strat

Wammer
Wammer
Aug 17, 2005
13,950
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Buckingham, UK
AKA
Lindsay
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The Strat wrote:

I reckon I'd go for a Rega CDP (I think I prefer over the Naim at the lower price level)/Naim Nait 5i/Dyn Contour 1.3s - would do all genres brilliantly imo.
Having said all that Dudy's Regas look a brilliant buy at the moment.

 

Jezzer

Unspecified Wammer
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Jul 31, 2005
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Jezzer
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Meridian 507 or 508 - £5-£700 on Fleabay/hififorsale

Harman Kardon HK 680 - can be had for around £250 from Ebay.de

Dynaudio Contour 1.8's in the classifieds at £900.

 

JamPal

Content Provider
Wammer
Jul 19, 2005
29,607
590
173
Sussex, West Side
AKA
James
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
yoda900 wrote:

Kef Reference 3.2 on hifi for sale £1600 in black
refthree2.jpg


Nad Silverline out of the classifieds

Bit over budget but before haggling.
biggrin.png


Keep CD player.

Would fill a big room with the scale required for classical.
And that NAD amp is a doozy... Darren nearly had to wrestle it from me.

 

AmDismal

Wammer
Wammer
Apr 22, 2007
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108
I listen to about 90% classical in a similar size room (slightly bigger, high ceilings), so I would naturally recommend my system!

Certainly the EAR amp and Living Voice speakers can be found for about £800 each, which leaves £400 on source - I'd go for a Squeezebox, possibly with a DAC, but YMMV. Get a SB+ or Transporter later
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The great thing about a Squeezebox for classical music is that it liberates you from the strictures of the CD. I have a box set of Mahler symphonies, and it's all over the place - half of the symphonies are split across discs, unlistenable. However, with some simple tagging, suddenly I can listen uninterrupted to a whole symphony. Ditto for opera on multiple discs and discs where there are several different pieces.

But anyway, the key point is that a SET plus high sensitivity speakers is not out of this budget, and it does sound nice!

Adam

 

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