Hi gurus,

Am looking to purchase a hifi system with the usual components of amp, speakers and cd player. Have auditioned the following system recently:

1. Quad 11L (Wonderful with vocals, but bass is lightweight, to me at least)
2. Audiovega some Tube CD Player
3. Audiolab 8000S Amp

Am intending to audition the the following other stuff in the coming days:

1. Creek A50iR
2. Creek 5350SE (Prob beyond budget)
3. Cyrus CD 6s (Prob beyond budget also!)
4. Epos M12.2
5. Epos ESL 303
6. B&W 309
7. Marantz SA 7001
8. Wharfedale Pacific Evo 30
9. Quad 12L
10. Cambridge Audio Azur 640A
11. Cambridge Audio Azur 640C
12. Monitor Audio RS 6 (Def beyond budget. Anybody know why this is RM 6k here? It is only USD 900 in the States, is it the distis fault they uplift the prices?)

Listen to alot of different kind of stuff - rock (Audioslave, Coldplay, Gnarls Barkley, Belle & Sebastian, Bloc Party, Flaming Lips), jazz vocals (Emi Fujita, Stacey Kent, Diana Krall, Nat King Cole, etc) and also acoustic guitar instrumentals (Tommy Emmanuel, Roger Wang, Kotaro Oshio), and a smidgen of classical stuff on the side.

Also, I have no dedicated audio room, just a living hall, is it true i need floorstanders to fill up the hall space with sound?

Budget is around 6k - 8k, am open to any suggestions. Any comments on the components I plan to audition? Any others I should look at? Pls do feel free to reply!

Oh yeah, will also be in the States for a few weeks soon. Worthwhile to go over and cart stuff back? Certain brands (MA, Cambridge Audio) seem to be much cheaper in UK and US compared to local prices.

Thanks for helping out a newbie!

This post has been edited by TOts: Jul 27 2006, 08:03 PM

Hey man, thanks for the reply.

Let me detail some of my adventures in auditioning some systems for everybodys benefit :

Have auditioned the following components over the weekend.

System 1:
Cambridge Audio Azur 640A
Cambridge Audio Azur 640C
Quad 11L
Supra Speaker Cables and Chord Interconnects
Price 4,999 (Desa Home Theatre)
Verdict: System is abit to midrangey and unbalanced. Seemed to be pushing vocals straight to front and lack of detail in the music.The place I auditioned the system was horrible (no stands for quads and full of ambient noise)

System 2:
Audiolab 8000S
Audiolab 8000CD
ATC SCM7
Chord Carnival Silver Plus Bi Wires and Chord Cobra 3 Interconnects
Price RM 10,000
Verdict - Amazing Detail and wonderful for jazz and vocals but too polite for rock. Soundstage while extremely wide for such small bookshelfs is still slightly lacking. ATCs are amazing though considering their small size

System 3:
Creek Evo Amp
Creek Evo CD Player
Epos M12.2
Straight Wire Speaker Cables and Interconnects
Price - RM 8,000
Verdict - Plays all kind of music well and rocks out, but high frequencies slightly harsh, will listen again to form a more concrete opinion.

System 4:
Audiolab 8000CD / Marantz SA 7001
Audiolab Pre Amp and Monoblocks
ATC SCM12
Chord Carnival Silver Plus Bi Wires and Chord Cobra 3 Interconnects
Price - Around RM 18,000
Verdict - By Far the Best system - Soundstaging for vocals was holographic, detail was amazing However, still too polite for rock. I think its either the Audiolabs are too neutral or the system needs a sub.

So for me personally, am deciding between System 2 and System 3. Will listen more over the next few days. Am leaning towards getting System 3 and a decent hi-fi sub (Is the REL Stampede available in KL? - Who sells it?) Any other recommendations?

Thanks for the recommendations. Although the Dali seems slightly beyond my budget, I'm intrigued. Who carries them in KL? I checked the Dali website and the Malaysia Disti is based in Penang with an uncontactable number.

What about Euphonic Research, where can I check this out?

Thanks!

Yo peeps, after days and days of auditioning, I have narrowed it down to the following system:

Micromega Minium CD Player
Euphonic Research Pre & Power Amp (Malaysia's best kept secret is super excellent! ) Its retailing for GBP 2995 (RM 20k) in the UK!
Thiel CS 1.5 Floorstander Speakers (2nd Hand)
Euphonic Research Dendrite Silver Interconnects (x2)
Clearaudio Squint Speaker Cables
Price - Around RM 13k.

System sounds excellent, soundstaging is so wide, sound is detailed and bass is really strong, tight and well controlled. IMHO, it sounds better than even the Primare and Pro Ac Studio combo that I tried out that costs almost double. The other thing I dont really like about the Primare and Pro Ac is of course the crazy pricing by the local disti Also tried out the Marantz PM 7001 KI and SA 7001 KI with Epos M12.2s but it seemed to lack that little treble sparkle for vocals and classical and raw drive when it came to rocking out

Of course I am well aware that the CD Player is the weak link in the system and will look to replace it when the next AV fest arrives.

Anyway, what I have learnt is to certainly trust your own ears when auditioning systems, and dont let people poison you too much into higher end stuff. From my previous budget of RM 8k I have stretched it to the limit. Hifi sure is an EXPENSIVE HOBBY!

BTW am still open to any comments or suggestions. Pricing seem ok? Any other stuff that I should check out? Thanks guys, you have been great!

This post has been edited by TOts: Aug 10 2006, 03:42 AM

Yeah tried the ATC SCM 7 and SCM 12s. The 7s are really good speakers, so small yet so class, but I feel that the bass response is somewhat lacking. (Definitely not as potent as the Thiels)

As for the SCM 12s, excellent speakers but I am told that they are very very hard to drive - heard it with Audiolab Pre Amp and Monoblocks, and still felt that speakers were not driven to their full potential. Prob need at least a 150W or above solid state amp like a Krell or some high end pre and power combo. Another thing is, heard that the new updated ATCs will be released in Malaysia by end of the year, they are already available in UK, so maybe would be wise to wait for these new ATCs to come into the market as they have updated technology.

BTW, anybody have experience with the Mark Levinson No.39 Integrated CD Player? Anybody know how much it use to cost and what is a reasonable price for a 2nd hand one say about 6 or 7 years old? The reviews on the Net are extremely positive, and while the model may be discontinued, it was rated as one of the best CD Players in the 90s.

I may be able to get a 2nd hand one, but price is yet to be determined.

Are Mark Levinson products reliable? Saw the No. 39 and it is certainly built like a tank!

This post has been edited by TOts: Aug 10 2006, 11:54 PM

Don't have a dedicated listening room just a living hall so hopefully space wont be much of an issue. Should be able to put at least 15 - 20 feet distance btwn speakers and listening position so should be sufficient right?

Still awaiting pricing confirmation on the Mark Levinson No. 39 CDP. Anybody had experience with this? Anybody know what is a good pricing for it?

Thanks again!