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Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences. |
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In Reply to: RE:Good luck posted by Satie on August 11, 2010 at 14:10:34:
Thanks a lot for the info Satie,Like say the Yaqin 300B integrated amp needs looking at and I don't think its sounds that great either really. I am going to get the hum fixed soon by an expert here, - will try it out then.
I am really in two minds as to whether to hang onto the Promitheus or not. I need to test it out more, - it does have a very pure and detailed sound and its much better than the Moth passive in my system. Its clearer and more detailed for sure. Its just the dynamics like I say, - nothing close to the active pres I have tried. I need to test it out with the Art Audio Quintet valve amp too (30Watts) with my headphones and also with the Proacs 3.5s when I get them set up again (the Art Audio works well with those big Proacs, - in fact even the 9W 300B amp works OK with them in my smallish room as long as the volume is not pumped up too high!)
So a lot of testing still to do.
And the Equipment churning continues, - there has been a flurry of Quad 99 preamps today ( I think they are replacing the 99 range soon so a lot of people have just started selling!). I am picking up one tomorrow locally. So I will be comparing it with the 66 tomorrow night!, - I THINK it will sound better and be the one to keep but I'll know for sure when I hear it. Can hang onto both though, will have to sell one on. Do you reckon the 99 will still be good with the 606 despite it having slightly higher 775mV output level (I should think so as the Nad is higher and that works fine with the 606)One thing I have noticed about the Quad pre/power 66/606 combo on the 2.7s is that whilst it is good in general and the 606 is obviously driving the speakers well, it is nothing like as attacky sounding/grabbing and dynamic sounding the Naim Audio Pre/power combination (32.5 pre amp with Hicap power supply and NAP250 power amp) my Dad used with his MGIIIs. But the Naim amps are well known for their pace etc and dynamics probably being ahead of many amps in that department. The Quad combo is sort of more subtle and smoother sounding,- still good but it doesn’t have the same sort of dynamics and attack. Of course I am not using the same speakers as my Dad was but my hunch is the difference is the amps. I will test more when I get the 3.3Rs but that will not be comparable to my Dads set up really as I will be driving them active of course. My Dads setup of the MGIIIs and Naim amps really was fantastic, - it had everything, - dynamics, detail extension at both ends and subtlety. From reading around it seems some people prefer Naim amps and othera Quad, - some people find Quad ampa too smooth and polite (those that prefer Naim) and others prefer Quad amps, finding Naims a bit over the top. I would say I probably prefer the Naim sound myself but the advantage of the used Quad gear is its vastly cheaper!
If I had the money I would love to get a full Naim pre/power setup but they are so pricey even used, - and the NAP250, whilst a fantastic classic power amp (which has been in production for 35 years now!) is only 70 watts into 8 ohms and about 120 into 4 ohms, though it is however quite capable of high amp delivery. So the Quad 606 is definitely probably better on paper for the Maggies (140 in 8, 240 into 4), and the current dumping circuit it uses is very similar to the Threshold amps (designed by Nelson Pass), but in a smaller/lighter package.There is of course the bigger NAP500 Naim power amps which will drive any speaker really but that’s too pricey by far (£10000+). Even though my Dad used a Naim NAP250 I am not sure any Naim power amp is the best choice to use with a Maggies as Naim amps don't have Zobel networks on the output stage, in fact you should only use Naim NACA5 speaker cable with a Naim amp as that cable has the right inductance/capacitance and actually acts as the Zobel network. If you use a different speaker cable you can get oscillation, which I would have thought would be bad with a Maggie! Do you reckon a Naim amp power amp with Naim speaker cable would be OK with a Maggie or not?
I have spoke to some people about mixing a Naim preamp with a Quad power amp and vice versa, in order to try to get some more dynamics to my Quad amp setup. The cheapest option would be to try a Naim preamp such as the NAC72. You might have to use attenuator to use it with the Quad 606 though (due to that high 0.5V for max output sensitivity it has). But it could be an option to try. No tilt control though on the Naim preamps of course, but I wouldn't mind trying one anyway. But I'm going to see first how the 3.3R sounds actively driven. IF I want a more attacking/pacey/dynamic sound I might consider getting a Naim preamp to try which might well help.
All the best,
Colin
Edits: 08/11/10
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- RE:Good luck - Davy 16:56:59 08/11/10 (0)
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