Critique this build: B&W, Peachtree Inside

What's your price range for the TT and phono??

The Project Debut Carbon is quite nice plus it comes w/ an Ortofon 2M Red cart which is excellent. From personal use I thought the NAD PP2 was quite good. Together they will put you right in your price range.

The last time I looked at the CM5 speakers, they were going for $1500 per pair.

I can name at least 10 better-sounding speakers that sell for lower or the same price. B & W have a severe price disadvantage due to current monetary exchange rates, and their speakers are not the best-sounding either (until you get into the very expensive models).

The Gallo Acoustics CL-2, for example, is far better-sounding and sells for $800 per pair (an excellent speaker at a great factory-direct price; no dealer markup).

The Dynaudio Excite X12 is also excellent and sells for $1200.

The PSB Imagine B is $1100 per pair.

In any case, if a friend of mine wanted advice, I would tell him to cross the CM5 off of his list and buy some better speakers (for less money, probably). There is no shortage of better speakers.
Edited by commsysman - 2/2/13 at 8:09am

The Peachtree Decco65 and Carbon TT are nice choices. The CM5s are great speakers but at the MSRP of $1500 there are many, many competitors.

Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1-,Piano black on sale for $798
Monitor Audio Silver RX-2, $1000
KEF Xq10-$700 (accessories4less.com)
Salk Mini-Monitor-$1200
Philharmonitor-$850

These are just some of the many options including commysman's recommendations.

I would suggest:

Gently pre-owned B&W N805 - $1500ish and amazing, amazing, amazing. I have speakers that cost $5k+ and I will not part with my 805N
Outlaw RR2150 2-channel receiver (has very great DAC and phono) - The best all in one IMO - $700 of the best spent cash - This receiver is stereo only, very flexible / passive sub crossover / preouts / tone controls / tone bypass for analog purity / amazing tuner / beefy amp section made by ATI which also makes amps for Jeff Rowland. This is a case where return on investment is very high. To successfully compile all these capabilities elsewhere would cost substantially more. The Wolfson DAC inside is the best DAC I have in my rigs. Stereophile review: http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/306outlaw

The combo of the two above components made me insanely happy for a few years. If you like B&W, this is a great setup.

&Project TT

Peace!

+1 on the 805s. That would make a very nice setup.

Regarding the phono preamp I would recommend the Zphono from Parasound. MSRP is $199 but you can get it for $149 from Audio Advisor clearance. For cheaper options, but not lacking quality, check out phonopreamps.com

Used N805 or 805S will sound fantastic and a lot better than CM5.

Also, at about 1500 they have already taken the depreciation it so you can use them for a couple of years and still sell for the same price i.e. use them for free!!!

5 years from now the used 805 may take a 10pc depreciation. You can't say that about too many speakers

For amp, I recommend a used Linn Majik DSI/DSM (older non HDMI version). very good dac and great phono stage. Also a network music player builtin.

If you don't need a DAC or streamer, then Majik I is a great choice and a lot cheaper.

i have the Nova and love it, great one stop choice.

check the sensitivity of your speakers, the peachthree stuff is solid, but 65w wont drive all speakers very well.

I have LSA .5's and absolutely love them, they are the exact same wood mahogany color as the nova, so they match up great, have magnetic grills and are front ported (which might be good for you if your up against a wall)

If you want floor standing speakers i have the tekton m-lores and they are great (assuming you like fullrange drivers) and they have super high sensitivity so you don't need much power. (zu's and Omega come to mind too)

You cant go wrong with PSB, Paradigm, Monitor Audio or Dynaudio all very good speakers and you can audition them, which is what everyone should do if they get a chance too. Who knows what sound you might like, they are all a little different.

I have a nova as well, the original version. It's a fantastic device. I use it primarily for watching movies and TV shows with Jriver/htpc via USB but also music as well. It works great for all.

My room is about 12 by 16 with 9' ceilings and the nova was fine driving speakers as large as the Mirage OMD28 with no issues at lower volumes. I found the omd28 to really sing with a much more powerful amp though - a peachtree 220 which is now in storage as it's total overkill for the Rx2 speakers I currently have.

I've also used Mirage OMD15 and PSB GB1 speakers and it easily drove those.

If you are into DIY or are willing to consider the option, check out Bottlehead's products. They have many DIY options that are phenomenal. http://www.bottlehead.com/store.php/categories/phono-preamps

Another option is to go with a vintage receiver. Not only do they sound great, most of them include phono preamps.