First Hi-fi Setup help

[Dilip M]

Hello Audioholics,

This is my first post here. I've been looking to build a hi-fi system for a sometime now after experiencing some high quality audio on my uncle's beautiful Emotiva setup. I've recently inherited some high-end audio equipment and will try to put together a stereo system myself now. Need advise regarding on the investment on speakers and sources. Here are the components I have :

1. Naim CD5 CD Player
2. Naim NAC72 Pre-Amp
3. Naim NAC202 Pre-Amp
4. Naim NAP140 Power Amp
5. NAPSC Power Supply
6. Hi-Cap Power Supply
7. Relevant Interconnects (Din Connectors and etc.,)

As of now, I'm thinking of going with Naim 202/140 w/Hi-Cap & NAPSC. Clearly, I need some speakers that could match my components.. I'm looking to invest about 1000$ on speakers (Used are OK too) and would be more than happy with bookshelves. I also visited Magnolia the other day and was impressed by B&W's CM10 S2 and even CM8, in their studio rooms. Will these speakers match with my Naim setup ? That's my primary concern. I looked at other cheaper options such as Klipsch entry-level series but learned that pairing high sensitivity speakers with my setup won't produce the best desirable results (along with a hiss). I really need some options here.
Second, I need some input on the source. I was thinking I should buy a high-end DAC and plug into my PC. Again, I need help.

Last but not the least, my music preference is all over the place except maybe not much classical. My room's 18 x 11 (feet) and my couch would be 6 feet away from the speakers.

Thankyou

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

$10k in electronics and $1k speakers is surefire way to waste money
Get pair of these - http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html
Yes, at almost $1500 these are 150% of your budget, but you could easily sell one of Naim pre-amps to get extra funds.

As for DAC - Spending anything more than price of oDac would be huge waste:
https://www.jdslabs.com/products/46/standalone-odac/

 

[Dilip M]

$10k in electronics and $1k speakers is surefire way to waste money
Get pair of these - http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR Philharmonitor.html
Yes, at almost $1500 these are 150% of your budget, but you could easily sell one of Naim pre-amps to get extra funds.

As for DAC - Spending anything more than price of oDac would be huge waste:
https://www.jdslabs.com/products/46/standalone-odac/

hello BoredSysAdmin,
Thanks for the reply. I'm still a little overwhelmed by all the complexities involved in building a good hi-fi system. As also said, I've just inherited those electronics, as in didn't spend a dime on them but I know how good they are! Since I won't be needing two pre-amps and probably also the CD Player, I'll be putting them up for sale. Any idea how much they'd go for on the market ?

I'll try to find these speakers in an outlet near me and give them a try. $1500 right now might seem a stretch but I think it's unfair to invest lesser, given Naim's driving them.

Excellent DAC suggestion. I guess I'll go with it.

Thankyou!!

 

[KEW]

The bottom line is the difference in sound between your extremely nice gear and a $500 receiver will be subtle compared to the tremendous differences between well designed and poorly designed speakers.
A $500 receiver from any major brand is designed using well established approaches to control and amplify (while maintaining) the original signal. It is a mature science and can be done well without any great expense. The advantages of high dollar gear are usually design refinements which may or may not be audible.

However, as soon as you listen to any two different speakers you are pretty much guaranteed to hear a very obvious difference. There are some expensive speakers that sound pretty poor and some inexpensive speakers that sound pretty great.

If I were you, I would:
1) Buy a pair of Affordable Accuracy Monitor speakers for $200. This will give you familiarity with the sound of a good and accurate speaker which will help you when you go out and listen (if you are like most people, you are simply not used to hearing quality sound reproduction).
It will also give you something to listen to so you won't get impatient and go for the "today-only special" when you should be learning enough to better use your limited funds.
http://philharmonicaudio.com/aa.html
2) Check out Audiogon on-line. It is a classified service for high end audio gear.
3) Decide how you will get bass for your system - do you plan to use a subwoofer or use full-range speakers.
4) Keep asking questions here.

BTW, I don't understand the issue about sensitive speakers and hiss. I suppose if you have the notion that a measure of the quality of your system is to turn the volume all of the way up when nothing is playing to see how much hiss there is, a sensitive speaker could do poorly, but that is because it is essentially being played much louder. At equal volume levels in your room, there should be no difference in the amount of hiss due to sensitivity. The only difference in hiss at equal volume should be due to a frequency response that emphasizes the hiss.

 

[herbu]

The bottom line is the difference in sound between your extremely nice gear and a $500 receiver will be subtle compared to the tremendous differences between well designed and poorly designed speakers.

What he said.
With what seems to be your burgeoning interest in audio, you can expect a journey of speaker upgrades. There can be huge improvements in sound as your budget increases. If you choose wisely in the beginning, the audible differences will mainly be in bass extension. If you choose poorly, the mids & highs can/will differ significantly as you "upgrade".

So starting w/ a limited budget, your challenge is to get speakers with accurate mids & highs, and add a subwoofer. As you upgrade speakers, you can get more bass in the speakers, and your sub(s) are more for balancing the bass and shaking the house with monsters and explosions in movies. (For $3500 you can get a pair of Phil3s that essentially make subwoofers unnecessary for music... but still required for big boom movies.)

In addition to the Phil3s, Philharmonic Audio may offer the most accurate speakers for the money of anything you can find. Prices start at $195 with the Affordable Accuracy mentioned above.