Thanks to ALL of you for your kind and helpful replies!
Truth be told, for last 2 years I almost stopped listening to the music because of lack of understanding what happened wrong and how to change it. You encouraged me enough to try again. :)
I finally decided to get rid of Naim amp & preamp and come back for a while to an old Arcam amp & preamp. Let's see how it sounds now to my ears. There's another question to ask as I've been thinking about a tubed DAC like Lampizator Baltic, but I have no idea if it will be a good match up with Monitor Audio + Arcam, but I also don't know if Arcam will be replaced with something else... Should I buy Lampi and then try to match up a amp to it or the other way around?
@akg_ca thanks, I'll definitely try some of the amps you mentioned.
@zlone specs of my speakers - https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/support/past-products/platinum-ii/platinum-pl100-ii/#specs
@larryi honestly I didn't know before that many people don't like Naim amps. my problem was I asked for suggestions on.. Naim forum. What possibly could go wrong? :-)
@erik_squires yeah, definitely going off was a mistake. I'm not sure though if Arcam and Monitor Audio are extremely neutral - honestly, it's not what I remember from the past, but XLO cables are considered to be fast and detailed so maybe that made a nice combo?
@knotscott it's too bright and too cold, even bass sounds harsh. It lacks of sweetness and warmth. Speaker placement is not an issue, I moved to another house and nothing changed :)
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A small update..
I'm toying with the idea of buying used Lampizator Big 7 with volume control, so I could use it as a preamp. It's available right now on the market with pretty decent price... But there's also an offer for Lampizator GG1 without pre-amp, which obviously is more expensive. Huh.
I also scheduled for this week a visit in local audio shop. I'll try my speakers and cables agains different AMPs and try to figure it out which one works best. They offered me for example: Octave v80, Ayon Spirit and Ayon Crossfire (SET).
To sum up..
1) I could start with buying Lampi DAC with pre-amp.
2) Check what AMP is best for my speakers/cables
3) After buying Lampi, borrow one of AMP's and check it at home with speakers/cables/Lampi.
Alternatively. I could pay more for Lampi GG without pre-amp and start looking for integra instead of amp.
Any suggestions, please? :-)
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@carlsbad2 thanks! Do you really think it would be ok to start with a dac and fit a proper amplifier to it later, not the other way around? Answering to your questions:
2) none of them are upgraded to engine 11, so in both cases I’d consider an upgrade in some future, however I think it could be a deal breaker because older Lampizators use r2r ladder and from what I know engine-11 brings sigma-delta to all of them. did you have by any chance an opportunity to to compare your GG to Big7? I wonder how huge the difference is.
3) I’m looking only at SE.
4) I’d like to connect a streamer to the DAC via USB and my CD player via S/PDIF or RCA if possible.
@soix thanks for your reply! I haven’t been able to put the Arcam gear back in - an input for spades has broken and I have to take it for a repair first. I don’t have any dedicated dac, I used only Naim CD player with internal dac to play music from my cd collection. Thanks for letting me know your concern about Ayon, I’m also fretting about it a little. Do you think my speakers with efficiency 88 dB may be difficult to drive by Ayon’s 2 x 30 W?
"What specific improvements are you looking for over what you’re hearing now?" - It’s a great question. I really should play Arcam first and then have something to refer to. But the issue is that the auction with Lampi is happening now, the Arcam is broken and I penciled in a listening sessions at audio shop in a couple of days :-) Truth be told, It shouldn’t be difficult to level up from my current audio equipment as it’s from previous century (however my attempts with Naim don’t confirm that). I listened to some Ayon’s before and the sound was vivid, warm, euphoric and I liked it but didn’t have a chance to try other genres like rock and electronic music... I also tried some Chord stuff like Hugo but it wasn’t for me - it was too sterile.
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@soix I'm not 100% sure if I know what I like. I know what I DON'T like: cold and sterile sound. Otherwise, I prefer everything what's good - dynamics. resolution, realism, wide sound stage, good bass, great midrange and a bit of sweetness and warm that makes it more magical experience ;-) Is is that much?
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UPDATE!
I had today a listening session at audio shop. I took my friend with me to compare the feelings. I had my piece of the equipment - Monitor Audio Platinum PL II speakers and XLO Signature 2 cables. We tried them against Ayon Crossfire III (SET) and Octave v80 (push pull). Ayon sounded surprisingly weak, bright and I didn’t like it at all. It was much better with Octave. But after some time we both found out that there is still something unpleasant with the sound that makes you tired of listening - a metallic glow. That was the moment where I unfortunately realized that my problem is my speakers...
We took Dynaudio Contour 20i and connected those speakers to Octave v80 SE and momentarily the metallic glow disappeared. There was more music, more fun, music was quite enjoyable. My friend was very satisfied. I was too for a moment, but... to be honest, I wasn’t delighted. My Monitor Audio speakers apart from having this metallic glow, have very detailed, nicely contoured sound which I like or I got used to it. At the same time Dynaudio Contour 20i give lot of fun, but the sound is kind of cloudy. Does it make any sense?
Anyway, this took me to the conclusion that I probably should start with changing my speakers. Maybe new ones will fit well with my Naim/ Arcam set? There's higher model of Dynaudio - Confidence 20, but I'm not sure if it's good way for me.
If so, what would be your recommendations?
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@soix thanks! I'm just just starting reading about those speakers. I have to check the availability in Europe, because shipping from the US would cost me an arm and a leg :)
Btw. may I ask if you're a fan ot Joseph Audio Pulsar and if you agree with my feelings about Dynaudio? I'm just looking for confirmation that my feelings might be right...
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@soix I've read today a lot of rave reviews about JP that make me want to buy them.
Is there a huge difference between Pulsar 1 and Pulsar 2 Graphene? I wonder how much costs to upgrade from 1 to 2...
I'm also wondering if those speakers will be enough for my room - I sit almost 4 meters from speakers and the room is kinda big and open...
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I found Pulsar 1 for about 4300 USD but without front covers/grill. Also found Pulsar 2 for for about 6600 USD with front covers and guarantee till 2027. Damn!
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Thanks, you helped a lot. I've sent a message to JP asking about price and possibility of buying these grills, but I guess I won't get any reply soon enough :)
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Update :)
JP Pulsars will be delivered in a week. I’ve got them on a reduced price because of no grilles. The grilles I will order directly from JP. I talked to Jeff, great guy.
It's really tempting me now to complete my audio equipment: order Lampi Big7 with preamp and connect it to my Naim or Arcam power amp... Then in some future splurge on a better amp. How bad idea is it?
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Thanks, great to hear that.
In the back of my mind I know that I probably should start with buying a power amp and then match a right dac / preamp to it. But buying a Lampi with a preamp right now would give me a chance to enjoy the music using my new JP speakers, tubed DAC/preamp and.. old Arcam's amplifier which I could change in the future for something that match the rest of the my equipment.
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I’m having Pulsars for a couple of days. Great resolution, plenty of details, clear and accurate sound, a little on a bright side though. I’m satisfied with the purchase and I think the speakers are the best point to start a process of upgrading the equipment with. With the Pulsars I have this feeling that they are capable of so much more but are limited by the rest of the equipment. For example the bass is kind of weak right now with the Arcams. I can literally hear them asking for more juice.
Anyway, I wanted to share the lesson I learned today - how the SOURCE important is.
Until now I used only a Naim CD player as a source. A friend of mine bought Naim Uniti Atom as an all-in-one and stopped in with it. I used it today only as a Tidal streamer/DAC and connected it straight to my old pre-amp Arcam Alpha9 (which was paired with Arcam Alpha 9 power amp). And... everything was much better than from CD player! The sound was warmed, smoother, more enjoyable to listen and so on. Just wow! I was shocked that it’s so much better. So shocked that I decided to... out of curiosity, bring my Naim preamp and amp from the boxes (this Naim that I was complaining about in my first posts), my old Monitor Audio (same story), take my friend’s cables with bananas plugs (Naim limitations) and.. I experienced also a very nice sound (better) with tight and nice bass and no signs of previous metallic sounds from Monitor Audio (different source and different cables made that).
So, yeah, I’m looking for some conclusion right now. But I’m not quite sure what to do... I spent some cash on Naim set and on Monitor Audio speakers. But having JP I’m not coming back to Monitor Audio. I also have issues with coming back to Naim because they require bananas plugs and I have spades on my great XLO Signature cables and don’t want to change the plugs AGAIN. But I hear that Naim have a lot more power than Arcam, with bass and everything... So the only option I have in my mind right now is buying nice, tubed DAC with preamp that will do even better all the magic I heard today and then after saving up a little buying a power amp that will greatly match the rest of the system. Huh.
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I ordered Lampizator DAC Baltic & Poseidon for testing. The factory is near me, so I will have them tomorrow for about a week. It will be great to see the difference between one of the cheapest and one of the most expensive models! Anyway, it won’t be best testing ever because I still don’t have any "final" power amp.., so I’d like to ask ....
Any recommendations for power amp for JP?
Some ppl recommend solid state amps such as Pass Labs and Luxman.
Some other ppl recommend tubed amps like Rogue Audio Stereo 100, Audio Research REF 75 SE or 150
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Small update:
I was listening to the music all the evening using Lampizator Baltic 4 and Poseidon.
While Baltic was just fine, Poseidon was awesome. It's hard to describe what was so special about it, but we listened with a couple of friends and everyone said that Poseidon was in another league. The sound was better in every category. I took it because I was told that Big7 has similar "signature" of sound to Poseidon. Hopefully it's true, because Poseidon is definitely beyond my reach.
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I must admit that, for now, I’m enchanted by the sound when listening to classical music, jazz, vocals, and even electronic music through the Poseidon—it’s very good. However, when it comes to rock, it’s quite poor; the sound becomes flat and chaotic, with a heavily veiled background.
I’m wondering whether the charm of tube DACs is limited to the types of music I mentioned, or if this might be revealing the weakness of the very old power amplifier I’ve connected this very expensive DAC to....?
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Thanks @soix. As always I highly appreciate your support!
Currently Lampi Poseidon works as a PRE too. I also borrowed Auralic S1 streamer. So I suppose the old Arcam PA is indeed the weakest link. Any recommendations for a power amp?
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After I changed the source from Naim CD XS to Lampizator Poseidon there is no sign of the brightness, even bass is just fine right now somehow. I really like what Lampi does to the sound and I would like to add more of that magic to new amp. A pinch of sweetness and roundness would be appreciated but without a loss of timing, dynamics, resolution and other things that are available in most of solid state systems. Is it possible to have it all? :-)
In case of tube amplifiers I think a push-pull amp would have enough juice to drive Joseph Pulsars and provide a pinch of tube sweetness.
I’ve been thinking about buying used PA. My budget would be about 6000 USD.
Any thoughts on Octave RE 320? People rave about Octave in Europe.
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@soix PA is short form of power amplifier, I saw it in Ayon Audio so I thought it's in common use. Sorry for that!
Octave RE 320 provides, based on the documentation: "maximum output power of approx. 2 x 130 W with two tubes in push-pull mode. The performance bandwidth of the RE 320 extends from 5 Hz to 85 kHz. The pulse power can even reach over 200 watts. ". 130 WPC on pentode mode, 75WPC on triode mode. I guess you are concerned about triode mode?
I suppose more triode power will require much more expensive monoblocks.
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