Creek 5350SE vs Rega Mira 3

Go listen to something like these and see what you think.

System 1:
Musical Fidelity A5.5 integrated amp and CDP
Revel M22 stand mount speakers
VPI Aries Scout turntable with Grado Platimum cartridge

System 2:
Naim Nait 5i integrated amp, CD5i CDP and NAT 05 tuner
Totem Forest floor standing speakers
Pro-Ject RPM 5 turntable with Sumiko Bluepoint No. 2 cartridge and Pro-Ject phono amp

System 3:
Creek Destiny integrated amp w/ phono card and CDP, and Evolution tuner
Usher BE-718 stand mount speakers
Pro-Ject RM-9.1 with Dynavector Karat 17D3 cartridge

System 4:
Rega Mira 3 integrated amp, Saturn CDP and Radio 3 tuner
DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 8 floor standing speakers
Rega P5 turntable with Rega cartridge

System 5:
ProLogue Three preamp and ProLogue Seven monobloc amplifiers
Cambridge Audio Azur 840C CDP
Dynaudio Audience 52SE stand mount speakers
Rega P3 turntable with Rega cartridge

System 6:
NAD M3 Dual Mono integrated amp and M5 CD SACD player
Magnum Dynalab - DT-5 AM/FM Digital tuner
Dali Ikon 6 floor standing speakers
Clearaudio Emotion turntable with Satisfy tonearm, Clearaudio cartridge and phonostage

Any of these systems should provide you with lots of enjoyment.

Naim n-Vi integrated CD/DVD player/processor/amplifier. All-in-one unit - costs like $6K. Get some good $2-3K speakers and some speaker cables and you are good to go at your budget. Plays movies too.

04rdking,

1. The Naim n-vi is a great piece even if you don't use all the channels or the video. A simple one box solution with very good sound.

2. The Arcam Solo is very slick looking, but the sound is not up to the same level as the Naim in my book, or any of the systems I suggested above. I listened to the Solo carefully with some B&W 705 and 805 speakers, and it could drive the 705 all right, but its flaws started to show with the more revealing 805s. Naim on the other hand seems to punch well above its modest power ratings with a signature sound.

3. Linn makes an all in one system as well, although I haven' heard it. Go have a listen.

4. I visited a store in Austin when I was there that carries Primaluna and Dynaudio. If you are ever in town, you should check it out. Primaluna has managed to engineer in many of the benefits with few of the drawbacks of tube amplification. If space is a major issue, I would listen to one of their ProLogue or DiaLogue integrateds before you purchase if possible.

Good choice.

Cdc,

That was about 1.5 years ago so I have to reconstruct what I heard as best I can remember. I remember was listening to "the great audio experience" disk with various artists - many hifi shops have this well recorded mostly jazz compilation CD.

The 705's sounded slightly louder (89db sensitivity vs 88db for the 805S) and smoother through the Solo, more musical to my ear. With the Solo, the 805S tweeters sounded hollow in comparison, noticeably grainier and the overall presentation from top to bottom was thin sounding and overly analytical. Whether it is the chip amp, or the overall package (source + amp), the Solo just couldn't get the 805S's "up on plane" like the large Classe amp and source available in the same store that could have been used for demo but wasn't. The poor salesman was trying to convince me that the 805S was $1000 better than the 705. I know the 805S is a better speaker, but it wasn't in that set up.

I like the Solo for what it is, an elegant and quality built low to mid-fi all-in-one desktop stereo system. Get some good $500-$1000 stand mounts and you are in business. The B&W speakers I would choose for this system are actually the 685. The 705 sounded better than fine with the Solo, but that is as high up the line as I would bother to go.