Cambridge Audio S30 with Marantz PM5004

[asatsi]

Hi Friend,s

I have the nifty Topping TP20 and CA S30 setup. Somehow I am not that impressed with the sound quality. I am considering pairing up the CA S30 with Marantz PM5004. Wanted to check if anybody has done this earlier and how was the result?

Cheers,
Satish/

 

[corElement]

What traits in the sound are you looking for improving?

 

[asatsi]

Thanks. There seem to be lack of sound separation. The bass is not great. Also please note that my hearing distance is around 14ft. and I don't have a DAC. I play ACD through a regular Philips DVD Player, and 320 bitrate mp3s through iPod. Increasing the volume doesn't help that much. Hence I want something which would cause minimum fatigue and great sound quality.

 

[avidyarthy]

Changing the speakers would be a cheaper and more effective option. Switch to JBL Control 1 @ 7.5K.

 

[asatsi]

Thanks avidyarthy. I don't think there is a problem with the speakers. Since when I heard the speakers in the showroom against some heavy duty amp (most likely it was a Yamaha) they performed superbly well. Also I would like to hook up multiple sources to the amp (iPod, CDP, cassette player, TV etc.) which is not possible with Topping. In case anybody has paired the marantz with CA S30, it would help me make the decision.

 

[sumeshj]

Thanks. There seem to be lack of sound separation. The bass is not great. Also please note that my hearing distance is around 14ft. and I don't have a DAC. I play ACD through a regular Philips DVD Player, and 320 bitrate mp3s through iPod. Increasing the volume doesn't help that much. Hence I want something which would cause minimum fatigue and great sound quality.

Your problem is more with the source than the amp. That's your weakest link. I have the same setup - Topping with CA S30, and there is a big difference in sound when played directly through a iPod compared to playing through a DAC. I get plenty of separation and enough bass too (not dance-party-kind-of-bass but good-enough-for-living-room-kind-of-bass).

So before you replace the amp I would suggest you get a better source.

 

[asatsi]

Thanks Sumesh. My listening area is drawing room which is quite largish 16x12 plus attached dining area. I am wondering whether that could be a problem for the modest Topping amp.

 

[murali_n]

Hi asatsi,

Go for either Marantz PM 6004 or Yamaha AS500 amps with Wharfdale x.2 speakers, or any good bookshelves with 165mm drivers, you will not have any regrets later.

Just my Rs.2/-.

N.Murali

 

[asatsi]

Hi Murali, what about the existing speakers that I have, CA S30? In audition they sounded really great with the big amp, but not happening with Topping for me.

 

[kartick]

Hi Asatsi,

Frankly the S30s are very mids centric in their sound according to me. Although the pairing with the topping is quite good and beats many speaker-amp pairings in terms of VFM. But then I would suggest in order to neutralize the warm-mids centric sound of the S30s go for the Marantz PM-6004. It would pair very well. It will give you the options of multiple inputs as well and produce the punch as well due to its wattage.

I have tried the Yamaha A-S500 with S30s and did not find the pairing out of the world.

But do keep in mind, the S30s are smaller in their cabinet size as well as their driver size when compared to many other entry level bookshelf speakers like Wharfedale 9.1, Polk Audio, etc. so the puchy bass production might not be possible with them. Hence pair them with a 50watts or higher powered amp and see if you like the sound.

Also if you decide to change the speakers sometime later, the Marantz amp will easily pair up with other bookshelf speakers.

Cheers,
Kartick

 

[asatsi]

Thanks Kartick. I will get a chance to pair the CA S30 with Marantz PM5004. That would help finalizing the decision for me. If it still lacks the bass punch, I am afraid, I will have to let go of my CAS30/TP20 setup and upgrade :-(

 

[vktarun]

Thanks. There seem to be lack of sound separation. The bass is not great. Also please note that my hearing distance is around 14ft. and I don't have a DAC. I play ACD through a regular Philips DVD Player, and 320 bitrate mp3s through iPod. Increasing the volume doesn't help that much. Hence I want something which would cause minimum fatigue and great sound quality.

It appears from your post that you are happy with Mid's and Treble. what you are missing is Sound Seperation. Are you refering to Seperation of Instruments? i.e. Soundstage. Believe me Bass has no role in creating Soundstage.

Soundstage largely depends upon placement of Speakers and the Surroundings in Listening room. Early Reflections and distortion in sound spoils the Soundstage.

So far as you are using above average equipments there is no room for audible distortion up to a moderate volume level [do not crank volume more than 50% of the AMP capacity]

I will suggest you to devote some time time on Speaker placement and Damping the listening area before any further investment.

For Bookshelves, a proper stand, enough Breathing space [at lease 2ft behiend, 3 ft sides] and symmetry [wall behiend left speaker and open window behiend right speaker will spoil the symmetry] is a must.

Bass is altogether a different never ending story. its like "mera wala pink". therefre I will not discuss about it.

I believe with the existing equipments you will be able to get a decent Sound stage. Upgrading the Amp and source will bring in an overall improvement in sound quality.

Happy Listening.

Regards,

Vipin.

 

[asatsi]

Yes Vipin, I am talking about separate instrument sounds. Also note that my hearing distance is about 14ft. Would that matter?

 

[corElement]

Yes Vipin, I am talking about separate instrument sounds. Also note that my hearing distance is about 14ft. Would that matter?

I use large bookshelves and I prefer 4-6 feet distance, 3 feet is too close any anything more than 8 feet i find too far. And here we're talking 14 feet on a small BS, so Im not surprised you're finding detail and separation lacking.

Reduce the distance between you and the speaker along with placing them at proper height 24" and above.

 

[vktarun]

Yes ! it Matters, at one side large area requires more watts to fill in the space the other side a big sounstage can be created.

CA S30 has a sensitivity of 90db, therefore 40 - 60 watts per channel of amplification will do more justice with your listening area. Sound intensity is inversely proportional to Square of distance.means if you doubble the distance between speaker and the listener Sound intensity reduces to 1/4th.

For now, place the speakers 6 ft apart with 15 degree tow in and your lisetining position should be in between the speakers so that it is 7 ft apart from each speaker. in case of untreated rooms nearfield is always advisable.
At a listening distance of 14ft you are listening to a number of reflections from side walls. these reflection wil create multiple sonic image of an instrument and ultimately no soundstage.

I am sure at 14ft you will not get any bass from S30.

Regards,

Vipin

 

[asatsi]

You are right Vipin. I don't get any bass. But interestingly, my friend has exact setup. We bought it together. His listening area is a compact one. 6ft max listening distance. But he also is not able to make out any noticeable difference with the TP20+CAS30 combo. Its frustrating and we are not sure whether its our ears or is it supposed to sound this way only and we are expecting something out of the world :-( Anyways, only missing piece in this puzzle is a DAC. So we will have to wait and see if we could get hold of a DAC for demo purpose.

 

[sumeshj]

You are right Vipin. I don't get any bass. But interestingly, my friend has exact setup. We bought it together. His listening area is a compact one. 6ft max listening distance. But he also is not able to make out any noticeable difference with the TP20+CAS30 combo. Its frustrating and we are not sure whether its our ears or is it supposed to sound this way only and we are expecting something out of the world :-( Anyways, only missing piece in this puzzle is a DAC. So we will have to wait and see if we could get hold of a DAC for demo purpose.

As I said before too, the weakest link in your setup right now is the source (mass market DVD player / iPod). When I got my Topping and S30s the first thing I did was to connect an iPod to it, and I was disappointed big time, just like you. Was this the same combo that everyone has been raving about for a budget setup, I wondered. Then I got a USB DAC and played it using my laptop as source, and the difference in sound quality was like night and day!

While I completely agree with what everyone is saying about your large room and the Topping+S30 combo being inadequate for it, the first thing I would suggest you do before discarding this setup is to at least hear the best of what your setup is capable of, coz its a great setup in the budget range. See if you can get a DAC, or visit someone who has this setup with a DAC. You are most welcome to my place (I am in Pune. Where's Pumbai by the way?).

 

[asatsi]

Thanks Sumesh. Yes, I am also in Pune and have met you ;-) in your office. (wink wink) I agree that I must evaluate the DAC option first. I hope to catch up with your setup sometime soon. Cheers!
(Pumbai == Pune/Mumbai :-D)

 

[spirovious]

Have you tried Cambridge audio amp?It should go well with it.

 

[asatsi]

Hi Friends, I got to audition the CA S30s with Marantz PM5004. The combination was very musical to my ears Cheers!