Lend me your ears !!

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phlakaton
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Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by phlakaton »

Good people of the forum, I am asking for some assistance selecting some fine audio boxes.

All my dreams of gradually building a worthy system are ruined thanks to the good Dr. and Cubix Pro.

I need to forget the whole experience and try to be content with lesser things.

I have a cash budget of £3000 and existing equipment which can either be part of a new system or sold and added to budget.

Trouble is I don't know where to start.

All discussions and suggestions will be gratefully received.

Andy
Main:
Speakers-NVA CUBE 1
Amps-NVA T.D.S.
Pre.- NVA T.C.S
Power-NVA BMU
DAC- Chord 2QUTE
Inter- NVA SSC and LS5
Source- VortexBox
Portable:
Bose sound link Colour
B&O Beolit 15
Ears:
Sure SE 846
Proguard earphone eartips

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guydarryl
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by guydarryl »

Hi what is your existing equipment?
Does Vinyl feature?

forget that, I've just had a look at your introduction!
LP12, Ittok, DV10X5, Phono2(twin supply), P50SA , Art Audio Quintet, LS5, SSC, Rega Ela mk1
Sony cdp xb930, Alessandro ms1

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Fretless
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by Fretless »

The Audiolab DAC/Pre via SSP interconnect to A80 monoblocks then LS6 speaker wire to Cube 1's ought to do it for that budget (and if you do that I'll be very envious).

Take advantage of the NVA 30-day no-quibble (if you don't like it there's something wrong with your ears) refund policy.

Should be good enough to give Gilgamesh's 'Another Fine Tune You've Gotten Me into' a blast. :grin:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

_D_S_J_R_
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

The Audiolab won't be appropriate IMO as I believe it's a 'hifi' product rather than a musical one - just a gut feeling and I don't regard John Westlake as a hifi guru, more a tinkerer (PT used to love these people (he designed the Ordinal, which was no great shakes) and look how problematic all their stuff was) who jumped ship I believe to start his own M-DAC tinkering site, leaving Audiolab to try to reverse-engineer the thing I'm told :(

If you really like the Cubix presentation, then Cube 1's are an essential start. It's my opinion that all NVA amps basically sound cosmetically the same, but as you go up, they do add substantial extra 'heft' to the proceedings.

Whatever, I'd try to incorporate a P50 in there somewhere, preferably a P50SA. Source? Up to you, but I still rate the Rega DAC for its music-making abilities and for its reliability and manufacturer after-sales care.

As for interconnects and speaker terminals, the Doc will advise better, but LS5 even, is so much better than most commercial cables out there, you may find it good enough for now and trade it in later against LS6. SSC is great and I assume the SSPmk2 is even better, but the TIS is superb and worth the extra IMO.
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

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phlakaton
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by phlakaton »

Ok.... Due to limited choice of NVA range (thats a good thing) I am going to start off with

1pr A80's, 1pr cube1 and interconnects to suit.

Could someone explain the need for a pre amp. All sources will be digital into a DAC then out to the amps, just seems a bit of a waist having all those inputs with nothing to do.

I've not the best power supply should all equipment be plugged via BMU ?

DAC and source under review, point taken re. M-DAC though would like to keep for now an appreciate an upgrade at a later date.

Thanks
Andy
Main:
Speakers-NVA CUBE 1
Amps-NVA T.D.S.
Pre.- NVA T.C.S
Power-NVA BMU
DAC- Chord 2QUTE
Inter- NVA SSC and LS5
Source- VortexBox
Portable:
Bose sound link Colour
B&O Beolit 15
Ears:
Sure SE 846
Proguard earphone eartips

_D_S_J_R_
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

BMU works!

The Doc will confirm if an NVA preamp will be needed. It just depends what's coming out of the DAC...
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

Daniel Quinn
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by Daniel Quinn »

Does m dac have variable out put.

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kimangelis
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by kimangelis »

A pre-amp, especially a passive unit allows both attenuation of a signal and provides multiple inputs.

So..... you're going to need a volume control for a start. Unless your CD/DAC can do that for you?

Plus of course you can connect-up a tuner/DAB/DVD/whatever at a later date.

Additionally you can connect-up a headphone amp for those private listening moments.
Primare CD22. Primare DAB/FM radio. SSP to NVA AP70 and AP10H(JS) with Denon AH-D7100's. LS5 to Cube2's.

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

OK I will join in for this.

I am always unhappy about an active volume control in the digital domain. 1 they are feckin' awful things 2 if anything goes wrong in the circuit they give out amplifier destroying (and therefore potentially speaker destroying) signals. The 80s will work with an active pre-amp that was part of the mk1 to mk2 change, so a normal active pre-amp is fine, as is a DAC that has a passive pot tacked on the end of its output. I just worry about digital domain volume frigging.

BUT remember the NVA power amp circuit is DESIGNED to be used with a passive pre-amp.

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Neilardo
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Re: Lend me your ears !!

Unread post by Neilardo »

phlakaton wrote:Ok.... Due to limited choice of NVA range (thats a good thing) I am going to start off with

1pr A80's, 1pr cube1 and interconnects to suit.

Could someone explain the need for a pre amp. All sources will be digital into a DAC then out to the amps, just seems a bit of a waist having all those inputs with nothing to do.

I've not the best power supply should all equipment be plugged via BMU ?

DAC and source under review, point taken re. M-DAC though would like to keep for now an appreciate an upgrade at a later date.

Thanks
Andy
This may sound a little daft but I think you might be missing out on alot of potential NVA fun by going straight in with the big boys (A80s, Cube1s). If it was me I'd start off with A40s, SCC, LS3, and Cube2s (and perhaps a BMU). Enjoy them for a bit and then have the pleasure of trading up. You really can't loose with Docs trade-in system and it really is alot of fun. I started off with an old A60 and got some LS3 and carried on from there. Who knows you might find yerself budgetting for a Phono2 somewhere down the line. :dance:
Technic SL-P1200ASC>>SSP>>P50sa>>SSP>>A80>>LS6>>Royd Prior>>> and on the whole very pleased about it.

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