Well, Hawk's Herts-and-Bucks bake-off went down yesterday afternoon, and an interesting experience it was. The cast list was Hawk, Biscuit, AdamK, JonR, Bommer, Jasper, Papa Lazarou, Classikfan and myself (meninblack.)
Most of the opinions here are mine own, others please feel free to jump in and disagree.
I can't remember all of the models, or who brought what in every case, but the basic order of play was this:
First we started by listening to some CD players, all through Hawk's Naim amplification and his Living Voice loudspeakers. We went through Biscuit's blinged up marantz CD63 KI
, my ordinary CD63 KI, Bommer's MF 308 CD and my Cyrus CD8x/PSX-R before finishing with Hawk's Naim (one of the expensive top-loading ones.)
Everything sounded very good indeed. For my money, there was little to split the 2 Marantz's and the MF. The Cyrus sounded a little polite and restrained with the Naim amplification, which was a surprise. The biggest and most audible difference was with the Naim CDP, which had a fuller sound with deeper and better defined bass.
Do all CD players sound the same? NO. But most CD players probably sound pretty much the same. Special awards went to the MF for 1) Heaviest CD player, and 2) Best Buttons. Those buttons were audio pornography. If I had one, I'd hide the remote.
Next up we connected up Papa's vast array of Meridian kit: CDP, pre and power amp. We started with the PS Audio DAC in the system, but the curse of Wigwam struck and the power supply for this started to play up. The Meridian CDP sounded just as good without it, IMO. I thought this set-up sounded really nice, giving the Naim a run for it's money. The Meridian kit also got my Special Award for Most Preposterous Remote.
After this it was the turn of the Audionet SAM integrated, first with the Meridian CDP then with Biscuit's Marantz. This little integrated (superb looks and build, BTW) was punching above it's weight in this company, but sounded very impressive with the Meridian CDP. Not as good with the Marantz, though; a little harsh and shouty. With hindsight we should have put the Cyrus CDP with this, but didn't think of it at the time.
Finally, we connected the Naim amplification back up so we could listen to Hawk's LP12, which he admitted was not a top-spec one and had been bought quite cheaply second hand.
Now, I haven't listened to vinyl for years, and I've never owned a turntable that wasn't made entirely out of Airfix-quality plastic. So I'm thinking: OK, here we go, scratchy old records on a cheap old turntab.........Oh, bollocks!
You could hear the soundstage open up from where I was standing, and that was nowhere near the sweet spot. We listened to the tt back-to-back with the Naim CDP, using the same music.
Suffice it to say, the LP12 stomped over ALL of the CDP's kicked the bodies into a ditch and urinated over them, grinning furiously all the while.
My verdicts:
Best source - LP12
Best CPD - 1) Naim; 2) Meridian
Best amplification: 1) Naim; 2) Meridian
Was Biscuit's Bling conversion worth the dosh? Er, No. Well OK, yes, but just for the looks.
Will I get mine done? No, but I might paint it yellow.
Thanks to hawk for hosting an excellent afternoon, and to everyone who took the trouble to lug their kit.
Yesterday I was completely happy with my Cyrus system; today I'm coveting Naim! :naimee: Bah! And a turntable! Double Bah!
I don't even own any records! Oh well, that's HOBBY for you.
Most of the opinions here are mine own, others please feel free to jump in and disagree.
I can't remember all of the models, or who brought what in every case, but the basic order of play was this:
First we started by listening to some CD players, all through Hawk's Naim amplification and his Living Voice loudspeakers. We went through Biscuit's blinged up marantz CD63 KI
Everything sounded very good indeed. For my money, there was little to split the 2 Marantz's and the MF. The Cyrus sounded a little polite and restrained with the Naim amplification, which was a surprise. The biggest and most audible difference was with the Naim CDP, which had a fuller sound with deeper and better defined bass.
Do all CD players sound the same? NO. But most CD players probably sound pretty much the same. Special awards went to the MF for 1) Heaviest CD player, and 2) Best Buttons. Those buttons were audio pornography. If I had one, I'd hide the remote.
Next up we connected up Papa's vast array of Meridian kit: CDP, pre and power amp. We started with the PS Audio DAC in the system, but the curse of Wigwam struck and the power supply for this started to play up. The Meridian CDP sounded just as good without it, IMO. I thought this set-up sounded really nice, giving the Naim a run for it's money. The Meridian kit also got my Special Award for Most Preposterous Remote.
After this it was the turn of the Audionet SAM integrated, first with the Meridian CDP then with Biscuit's Marantz. This little integrated (superb looks and build, BTW) was punching above it's weight in this company, but sounded very impressive with the Meridian CDP. Not as good with the Marantz, though; a little harsh and shouty. With hindsight we should have put the Cyrus CDP with this, but didn't think of it at the time.
Finally, we connected the Naim amplification back up so we could listen to Hawk's LP12, which he admitted was not a top-spec one and had been bought quite cheaply second hand.
Now, I haven't listened to vinyl for years, and I've never owned a turntable that wasn't made entirely out of Airfix-quality plastic. So I'm thinking: OK, here we go, scratchy old records on a cheap old turntab.........Oh, bollocks!
You could hear the soundstage open up from where I was standing, and that was nowhere near the sweet spot. We listened to the tt back-to-back with the Naim CDP, using the same music.
Suffice it to say, the LP12 stomped over ALL of the CDP's kicked the bodies into a ditch and urinated over them, grinning furiously all the while.
My verdicts:
Best source - LP12
Best CPD - 1) Naim; 2) Meridian
Best amplification: 1) Naim; 2) Meridian
Was Biscuit's Bling conversion worth the dosh? Er, No. Well OK, yes, but just for the looks.
Will I get mine done? No, but I might paint it yellow.
Thanks to hawk for hosting an excellent afternoon, and to everyone who took the trouble to lug their kit.
Yesterday I was completely happy with my Cyrus system; today I'm coveting Naim! :naimee: Bah! And a turntable! Double Bah!
