Hi all, im looking for a pre power combo to drive my shahinian arcs, i used to
have a rotel rb 981 power with rc 971 pre and arcam cd 192 it was powerfull
but grainy,then i bought a belles 150a hotrod with belles pre powerfull with no grain but something missing like an arcam amp,ive heard the arcs with
electrocompaneit eci4 and electrocompaneit cd player at audio exchange
sounded great but very expensive to much for me, im now looking at exposure
or meridian older line stuff but the exposure stuff is a little hard to work out
its a bit like naim im told without the rip off price some info on the models would be good some stuff on ebay at the moment ive considerd building my
own avondale kit type thing also nva but still its pricey are there any
sugestions from you all cheers ocean

NAIM 42.5 (or 62) with NAP140 is sub £500 and hard to beat IMHO for that money.

Try to get a second hand Dynavector L200 and HX 75 mk11 you should get both for about a grand or so.

Try to get a second hand Dynavector L200 and HX 75 mk11 you should get both for about a grand or so.

Thanks there is a l 200 on ebay at the mo £570 any good are they

NAIM 42.5 (or 62) with NAP140 is sub £500 and hard to beat IMHO for that money.

I thinks you put me onto fear of the dead planet great album

Thanks there is a l 200 on ebay at the mo £570 any good are they

Just had a quick look at the one on ebay I would say that its a good price from this dealer who I have dealt with in the past, see if he will give a guarantee period.

I also noted that the pre amp has a mm phono stage this can be changed to a mc if need be or even better buy a P75 I have owned an L200 with mc stage and P75 and only upgraded to the more expensive L300.

Before the L200 I owned an Nac 82 and 2 x Hi caps which cost a lot more money (not saying the L200 bettered this more of a different sound).

I thinks you put me onto fear of the dead planet great album

There you go, you CAN trust me. BTW Porcupine Tree have a new album out, 'The Incident'.

I bet this Avondale 72 + 140 + HiCap (http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=67417) sounds stunning.

I bet this Avondale 72 + 140 + HiCap (http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=67417) sounds stunning.

Yes it will, but I would think about NJ cards rather than the Avondale 821s. 821s are great but move far away from the NAIM sound IMHO. However if you like that kind of detailed accurate sound the 821s are probably for you.

NAIM 42.5 (or 62) with NAP140 is sub £500 and hard to beat IMHO for that money.

Too right, 42.5/140, nothing out there better for the money.

Older Naim combo's are great value for money...but

TBH, the Arc will suffer, they need more juice than a Nap 140 will deliver in anything but Vsmall rooms.

The older Exposure stuff are great but a home dem must be mandatory finding out if match..the Exp 18 is more likely a Nap 160/180 size amp.

Wonder how the XS will drive Arc ?

Has anyone tried NVA with Shahinian?
I think they (NVAs) are great VFM.

Have always wanted to try Shahihians but they are never available in Asia..........

Depends on how loud you need them to go. My list of amps I have used with Arcs (in order of loudness capability) and keeping the budget down:
Sugden A21 - sounds great but you won't be able to thrash them at all.
Naim Nait 2
Sugden A21SE - like the A21 but with more welly.
Naim Nait 3 and 5
Bigger Rotel Integrated 1062 - plenty of power and pretty revealing
Creek5050 or something - very good sound with these.
Naim 140 + suitable pre - great sound with a 72.
Densen integrated - the bigger ones sound very good and can drive the Arcs well.
Naim 180 + suitable pre - like the 140 but more capable of serious volume adn a better preamp power supply
Dynavector HX75 + suitable pre - rare but superb!

cheers
Jason

Arcs are surprisingly easy to drive though they do come alive with more power. I have driven mine quite hapoily with a 140 for many years and they do really boogie driven this way, though a lack a little refinement.But for a £500 solution I would say that a Naim 42.5/62/72 plus 140 would be a good solution.

The OP is looking for a 'value for money' solution and hasn't stated his budget, if he could stretch to £1000, I would suggest a Meridian 501+557 which whill drive his Arcs very well.

Talking of Exposure, I run a variety of exposure setups, including the following:

System 1:

Expo XI Pre

Expo XII PSU

Expo VIII mono blocks


System 2:

Expo VII Dual or XI

Expo IX PSU

Expo IV Dual XVI mono blocks to arrive within the next month.

If you need any advice on Expo gear please do PM me. I have an old archive list of all expo products prior to teh modern stuff, so if you send me your e-mail address I can send it to you.

Tried pasting it on PFM for you but looked awful.

If not check out some of my other threads and posts and you will find it there.

Generally the expo gear makesd my day, with only a few stressful moments here and there.

If you are local to SE London, or dont mind a trip, your welcome for a demo.

I also have a super VIII, expo CD player x2, roger LS/4s x2, Roger LS/2s x2, Rega Elas x2.

My sources are rega planar 3, un modded at present, 1210s again unmoded and then a pioneer cassette deck the AL91-A if I recall.

Hope some of this helps you, the list will be an even better guide.

If not on ebay there is:


Dual IV

IX PSU

XI Pre

A very good setup IMHO, cant go wrong, again depandant on budget.

Presently running three amps NAP 250(RATA modified),Crown K2 and MC2 650,I wouldnt say the Naim route was very cost effective compared to what else is out there.

If not on ebay there is:


Dual IV

IX PSU

XI Pre

A very good setup IMHO, cant go wrong, again depandant on budget.

Cheers for your help im watching the three on ebay do you think they will
drive my arcs also how does the sound compare with say naim cheers phil

another suggestion: DNM or Crimson.

i used to have C610CII and 2x630 monos - should work really well with Shanian. the C610 is the secret weapon here - very nice mm/mc stage built in already.

the official recommendation is Dynavector but i think you know this already.

regards
BF

Arcs are surprisingly easy to drive though they do come alive with more power. I have driven mine quite hapoily with a 140 for many years and they do really boogie driven this way, though a lack a little refinement.But for a £500 solution I would say that a Naim 42.5/62/72 plus 140 would be a good solution.

The OP is looking for a 'value for money' solution and hasn't stated his budget, if he could stretch to £1000, I would suggest a Meridian 501+557 which whill drive his Arcs very well.

Cheers for all your help, my arcs are 1993 i can get my hands on £500 but im
also thinking maybe interest free, i would like to hear the arcs with naim but
i cannot put up with the salesmen in birmingham music matters etc, so im
still looking , naim stuff is a rip off that puts me off, densen is another choice, or maybe a diy build avondale

What about some Meridian 100 series amps - a decent 101/105s setup should be easily achievable for the £500 budget and damn good too.

Has anyone tried NVA with Shahinian?
I think they (NVAs) are great VFM.

Have always wanted to try Shahihians but they are never available in Asia..........

IMO NVA amps will piss all over the others mentioned here. I've never heard bad Shahinians so it would be well worth a go. P90/A70's?

There is a rotel 980 pre power combo for sale in the PFM classifieds, rotel stuff of this era was very good and cheap.
Alan

This looks like it could be supreb VFM:Meridian 103D (http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-British-Boothroyd-Stuart-Meridian-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ180397378781QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers?has h=item2a00858cdd&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177)

Cheers for your help im watching the three on ebay do you think they will
drive my arcs also how does the sound compare with say naim cheers phil

DID YOU SEE THE PRICE THE THREE WENT FOR £1300 ISH TO MUCH FOR ME

DID YOU SEE THE PRICE THE THREE WENT FOR £1300 ISH TO MUCH FOR ME

I expected them to go for more than that TBH

IVDR for £635 & IX for £466 isn't that bad a price in todays market.