I recently picked up Focal Chorus 826Vs and the Musical Fidelity M1SDAC/M1PWR combo (discussed in a previous thread). They sound great, but I've got a couple of concerns:
Both the amp and the headphone out on the preamp have noticeable line noise. It's particularly irritating with my Shure 315 headphones, but even 8 feet away from the speakers, I can pick up the hiss from the tweeters. I've tried both AudioQuest type 4 and Kimber 4VS cables with the same results, and it's bugging me. Are all amps like that?
The second issue is that I've got the 65W amp at 75% while watching TV and 80%+ for music at room-filling volume. This seems really high to me. Should I be worried about constantly pushing the amp so hard?
Long story short, I'm looking at more powerful alternatives. I'd like to get (pre)amp, dac, and interconnects for under $1300. Options:
- Musical Fidelity M3si (Demo, 90Wpc, $1200)
- Cambridge Audio Azur 651A (75Wpc, $800)
- NAD C 356BEE (80Wpc, $800)
- Marantz mm7025 (refurb, 140Wpc, $500) with a dac/preamp. The ones I've found from Cambridge, Music Hall, and Emotiva are digital-only though. The Parasound p5 blows out my budget, is there some middle-ground option?
Commsysman, I know you have a M3(s?)i you're selling, how can I contact you about it?
Thanks in advance!
I recently picked up Focal Chorus 826Vs and the Musical Fidelity M1SDAC/M1PWR combo (discussed in a previous thread). They sound great, but I've got a couple of concerns:
Both the amp and the headphone out on the preamp have noticeable line noise. It's particularly irritating with my Shure 315 headphones, but even 8 feet away from the speakers, I can pick up the hiss from the tweeters. I've tried both AudioQuest type 4 and Kimber 4VS cables with the same results, and it's bugging me. Are all amps like that?
The second issue is that I've got the 65W amp at 75% while watching TV and 80%+ for music at room-filling volume. This seems really high to me. Should I be worried about constantly pushing the amp so hard?
Long story short, I'm looking at more powerful alternatives. I'd like to get (pre)amp, dac, and interconnects for under $1300. Options:
- Musical Fidelity M3si (Demo, 90Wpc, $1200)
- Cambridge Audio Azur 651A (75Wpc, $800)
- NAD C 356BEE (80Wpc, $800)
- Marantz mm7025 (refurb, 140Wpc, $500) with a dac/preamp. The ones I've found from Cambridge, Music Hall, and Emotiva are digital-only though. The Parasound p5 blows out my budget, is there some middle-ground option?
Commsysman, I know you have a M3(s?)i you're selling, how can I contact you about it?
Thanks in advance!