Beginner Recommendation: Stereo Listening

[raks]

Hey,

Not sure where I should be posting this. My current sound system is kaput - bought it 10 years ago. A Marantz M-CR603 I bought 11 years ago, paired to Paradigm bookshelves.

I was thinking I needed to go down the same road, but realized that I don't much listen to CDs. I have music on a NAS, and also stream - so mostly digital sources. Also listen to radio, but now there's digital links to radio. So I'm thinking maybe what I need is a good system that can handle different sources, connected to a DAC, and then to speakers. For now, I'm going to keep the speakers.

I've read through a number of DAC reviews, integrated amplifier reviews, etc. My head is sort of spinning.

Can you suggest a setup for me without speakers? Budget is around 6K USD. I would like it to be able to handle Tidal/Spotify, audio files, etc. Allow input of an existing CD player for the occasional CD use. (My existing Marantz plays CDs fine).

Thank you.

Raks.

 

[DVDdoug]

99% of "sound quality" is your speakers (and enough amplifier to drive them).

$6000 should be more than enough. You'll get the most for your money with a AVR (audio video receiver). Of course, it will allow you to select from multiple sources and digitally, it's more than a DAC. It can decode all of the Dolby & Blu-Ray formats (if that's important to you). And you could add more speakers later if want surround sound.

You will have to make sure it's got an input for your NAS and streaming sources.

 

[Triliza]

$6K gives you plenty of choices. If you want to spend almost all of that amount with a click, have a look at NAD M33.

Another choice would be a MiniDSP as DAC + Dirac, with a Purifi amp or a Benchmark AHB2. You'll still have some money left to buy a sub or two.

 

[SimpleTheater]

I’d say get two (three) recommended ASR products:
Two mono Outlaw 2220’s $800
A Yamaha WXC-50 (streaming Tidal/Spotify/NAS) $400

The only thing missing is headphones, which you didn’t specify as a need, but JDS Labs Atom Amp+ for $99 is also recommended.

Save the rest for cables, they make the biggest difference in an audio system

 

[Holmz]

…
Can you suggest a setup for me without speakers? Budget is around 6K USD. I would like it to be able to handle Tidal/Spotify, audio files, etc. Allow input of an existing CD player for the occasional CD use. (My existing Marantz plays CDs fine).
…

No.
You need only active speakers that can recover the NAS stream.

Then move the rest of your CDs to the NAS.

 

[H-713]

Can't comment on streaming devices since I'm not big on using them.

The Outlaw power amps mentioned above are pretty decently designed amps, I'll also throw a couple other power amp recommendations in:
-Schiit Vidar is a well-designed amplifier that is a nice and reasonably compact package. I still find it amazing that they can sell them for $700. These amps are made in California.

-Bryston makes a lot of good power amplifiers, and they pretty much last forever. Virtually any amp they've ever made would be a good choice, which is good since new ones cost a fortune. Bryston amps are made in Canada.

-The MC2 HS800 is a great choice if you're willing to trade silence (they do have cooling fans, though they aren't particularly loud) for a lot of output power. Unless they've done something strange and diverged from the topology they've been refining since 1995, these will be some of the cleanest amps of this power level available. These amps are made in the UK.

If you want a tube amp, there are a few options that aren't an engineering project. I'd lean towards a reproduction ST-70. It's not the best design ever, but it's a solid one, and the ST-70 transformers are among the best. If you can live with lower output power, the reproduction ST-35s have some of the best output transformers available.


DACS:
I have been quite pleased with the recent Schiit DACs, with my only gripe being that they don't sell a 1U rackmount version. I'd probably look at either a Schiit Modius, Focusrite Scarlett or MOTU M4 for your D/A conversion.

I don't recommend AVRs, as I see most of them as throwaway products designed to last 5-10 years, and you don't save all that much money. Of equal concern (at least to me) is that most of them are butt-ugly. Even the good ones are designed to appeal to Best-Buy customers.

 

[raks]

Thank you everyone for your reply. Let me read about what you've suggested, and follow up with any questions I may have.