First, if you have concerns about your 105, I would call Oppo and see. Even though they are not making new devices, they will still support in-warranty and out-of-warranty repairs.
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As far as NAIM goes, it sounds like a "naim fanboy" was making these claims. I'm not saying NAIM is bad or anything at all, but beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder. In your situation, the focal speakers are very fast responding and are definitely very efficient (at 91.5db). They would probably be fine with the NAIM. However, in my experience, Focal will sound best with a slightly warm or laid back amplifier, which makes your McIntosh MA6500 a very good match. The NAIM may or may not sound better, but it will sound different. In my opinion, I would probably want to keep the larger power supply of the McIntosh and look at speaker cables or interconnects to improve performance or resolution (if that's what your looking for).
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Thanks for the reply, Auxinput.
The Mac and the Focals pair very well. I’ve had other amps, and still have a Cronus Magnum boxed in need of repair in the cellar. Great amp, but I like the convenience of SS these days.
I’m happy with the sound. It’s more about merging down as much as I can into one box, without sacrificing quality.
Not sure I want to go through the hassle of getting the OPPO repaired. It is out of warranty at this point and I’m pretty sure my model may not be supported at this point. Worth finding out, though after shipping and repair costs, I’m guessing it might not be worth it.
Any purchase I make would likely involve trading/selling the Mac. They go for between $1800-$2600 online, so that takes a nice bite out of whatever I could end up with.
Ideally, I’d end up with an all in one solution that fits all needs, or something that could be upgraded, perhaps by adding an external amp at a later date. |
So, I had a similar issue: Mac Amp, Coincident speakers, Oppo 105 (that works flawlessly.The big difference is that I use a pre-pro. My Emotiva has a great pass through feature. When it's off, the source, satellite, goes directly through the TV. As soon as I turn on the Emotiva, everything turns on and I have theater.
My thoughts: The Oppo is a great player, the volume is mediocre and I keep the output fixed, the DAC is also mediocre. Emotiva's DAC is somewhat better. (My Hugo is clearly better for streaming, Tidal or computer audio).
Keep everything. Buy a Samsung or Sony BlueRay player. Spend some decent money on a pre-pro with pass through. Emotiva is great. Anthem is even better. Your wife can ignore all of your toys and watch tv when she pleases. |
i've been doing some research on the all in one idea and your needs seem to follow what I was thinking. The Anthem integrated seems like a winner from many standpoints. enough power, digital ins as well as analogue and then there is the room correction system built in, this is the main reason you would buy this amp and from all the research i've done that's what makes it so good other wise its just an average hi end integrated that you will either love the sound or not just like any other product out there. I think the anthem room correction is on par with the other well done room correction systems out there thinking lyngdorf . Speaking of Lyngdorf have you looked at their integrated getting fabulous reviews and do all if not more then the anthem. I personally was looking at the anthem pre amp with the room correction and the lyngdorf integrated amps. The anthem preamp may fit your bill for upgradability but you will need a 2 channel amp. I'm not a Naim fan, I have owned an all Naim system but was never engaged in the music so dumped it all and returned to tubes. I just don't get the Naim sound I suppose I always found it boring and could never get past one side of a record before I went off to do something else. That's me though so everyone has a different story.
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“Naim watt superior to others”. That’s a good one. A watt is a watt, strictly defined mathematically. Someone is trying to sell you snake oil. That being said, an amplifier can deliver different amount of power power depending on the load and frequency it sees. How well an amp can consistently deliver its rated power into different loads and frequencies will determine how well an amplifier is designed and perhaps sound. |
Thanks for all the replies.
Elevik, you were right about the OPPO’s volume control. I went to fixed and started controlling from the Mac and I actually do seem to notice a difference. Just a little bit more vibrant at mid to high volumes.
Crazy. Thanks for the heads up.
Glennewdick I haven’t checked into the Lyngdorf offerings. I will definitely research them tonight. Not looking to wait too long to make a move. The techie in me says go Naim, but the sensible part of me says the Anthem is the better piece of kit.
dracule1, what you state is what I’ve always believed. I did some very unscientific testing today and measured where, approximately, the low end Unity would run out of steam based on the meter positions on the Mac. It could get pretty loud, but at around 40ish watts it wasn’t so loud that it made me uneasy. When I think about cranking the system and working around the house, 40 ‘Naim watts’ might not cut it.
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The Lyngdorf is interesting. The only major advantage I see over the Anthem is the HDMI option. That add on puts it at the same price as the Anthem, but the Anthem has way more power and a lot of the Lyngdorf add-ons are already built into it.
The Lyngdorf is rated at 170 watts at 4 ohms. The Anthem is rated at 200 watts at 8 ohms, and up to 550 down to 2. Seems like no contest there. It also already has USB and analog inputs at no extra cost, as well as bass management in addition to its own room correction software, ARC.
From a value perspective alone, the Anthem seems to be the better bet. The HDMI in/out on the Lyngdorf would be nice, but not really necessary. The real question, though, is how do they sound?!
Not familiar with the ‘house sound’ of either, if they even have one.
Both nice looking pieces of kit, though. |
@hybrid81 - It seems like you are really focused on the features of an "all-in-one" solution. One thing I would like to caution (again) is to pay more attention to component matching. The Anthem STR integrated is a very good piece, but it is going to be very fast and high resolution. It is definitely not warm or laid back. The same goes with the Lyngdorf solution.
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I heard a set of mid level Focal Be speakers at RMAF. They were driven by a very high resolution set of Classe Delta monoblocks. While it was not bad, per say, the high resolution amp really revealed that the Focal sounded a bit thin in the midbass and midrange. This tilted the emphasis to the highs and caused the speaker to be somewhat bright (bordering on harsh). So, with your Focal speakers, component matching is definitely important. (unless you don't care about this).
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I have a set of Focal speakers that I use as surrounds. They are driven by a stock Parasound A21 amp. The result is very good. However, the stock parasound amp does not do well with my B&W D3 speakers and it ends up sounding too warm and veiled. So the Focal speakers really need a warm and very full sounding amp. When I try to bump up the amp resolution with the Focal speakers, they become a little hard edged and I lose body / volume.
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I don't know what your feature requirement is, but another "jack of all trades" integrated you could look at is the Parasound HINT 6. It does not have Apple Airplay (like NAIM) or room correction like Anthem, but it has a crap load of inputs/features and may be a better sonic match to your Focal speakers.
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Personally, I would avoid higher resolution integrateds such as Anthem, Lyngdorf, Classe, Hegel, etc. But in the end, it depends on what your priorities are. lol.
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If you did end up choosing something like Anthem or Lyngdorf and found it became bright or harsh, then your solution would be to add as much gold-plated elements as possible to "slow down" the fast integrated. This includes stuff like Isoclean or Hi-Fi Tuning "Cu" gold-plated fuses, gold-plated spades/bananas on pure copper speaker cable. Gold plated plugs on power cords (such as Audioquest solid-core - an excellent. And take out all silver or silver-plated elements.
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Very insightful stuff, Auxinput. I agree that Focals, at least the Electras, can be harsh and or lean with the wrong amplification. Found that out when I paired them with an Emotiva at one point.
Im starting to think that perhaps just replacing the OPPO would be a better way to go. DAC/Streamer combo that runs into the Mac might get the job done.
So many options. I really like the idea of room correction, but I’m pretty happy with how the system is dialed in right now...for the most part. Except that wifey would prefer one box to rule them all. Ugh. |
Does the HINT do everything you need? Seems like a good recommendation. |
Few things with the Hint:
1. No room correction. I feel like I’d really like to give that a go as my listening space is less then ideal.
2. It is, in my humble opinion, butt ugly.
3. I do like the individual sub and tone controls.
4. Good power that should be more then enough for now and later.
5. No network adapter that I could see.
The price is not bad, but I feel like it has a lot of stuff I won’t use, like USB, a bunch of analog inputs, and a bunch of balanced inputs and outputs.
Certianly something to consider though. The Lyngdorf has moved to the top of the list for the moment. I’m looking to get an in home demo of that unit hopefully today. The Anthem is next on the list for now because of the similar price point, more power, and room correction. It also has lots I don’t need, but more that I’d like to have. |
That is awsome that you’re getting an in-home demo of the Lyngdorf! Let us know what you think when you hear it! Regarding the Anthem, the difference between 170 watts and 200 watts is not anything that you would be able to tell the difference on. It would mainly be about sonic signature differences between Lyngdorf and Anthem.
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Oh crud, I missed the fact that the Lyngdorf 170 watts is at 4 ohms. This is a lot less than the Anthem, which is rated 400 watts at 4 ohms. The Anthem will definitely be able to handle the impedance drops of your Focal speaker much better, but of course, it all depends on how you feel about the Lyngdorf sound.
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