Denon PMA-700AE or Marantz PM7001 or NAD C320BEE for KEF iQ5

Shahrukh schrieb:

That said, she's usually quite accomodating and doesn't mind the cushions and stuff on the floor when I listen.

Oh Yeah…….
Just make sure you take them off when her close friends are visiting……

square_wave schrieb:

Shahrukh schrieb: That said, she's usually quite accomodating and doesn't mind the cushions and stuff on the floor when I listen. Oh Yeah……. Just make sure you take them off when her close friends are visiting…… :D

Oh they're "where they're supposed to be" all day! It's only late night, when I do most of my listening, that they come in front of the speakers.

You think I'd be alive and writing this post with two towels on the TV??

vpriyan schrieb:

Sharukh, in every family this is the situation. Thank God..I'm not yet married...."Gift for an Audiophile"

vpriyan, relax. It's not as bad as it sounds. I do get time to enjoy my music. The missus even sits with me sometimes. Hell, she's even accompanied me to demos. It's just that we all need to make some adjustments. You know... win some, lose some... give n take... you get the drift!

Shahrukh schrieb:

Oh yes, Abhi... Unfortunately, the wife didn't really care too much for it. I remember her saying something like "Look it's either me or... ".

Opportunities don't come by every day

Finally my dream system is going to come this sunday...

I have ordered Marantz CD5001 and PM7001 from Refex and
KEF iQ5 from ProFX with QED cables.

But my only BIG FEAR is whether this setup will loose dynamics as I heard Marantz PM7001 is weak in terms of dynamics and further KEF iQ5 has very low sensitivity.

vpriyan schrieb:

Finally my dream system is going to come this sunday... I have ordered Marantz CD5001 and PM7001 from Refex and KEF iQ5 from ProFX with QED cables. But my only BIG FEAR is whether this setup will loose dynamics as I heard Marantz PM7001 is weak in terms of dynamics and further KEF iQ5 has very low sensitivity.

Congrats vpriyan. And don't worry, 88db isn't "very low sensitivity" at all! Your pm7001 will drive em with ease! Enjoy!

Dear Vpriyan,

Congratulation !

Don't fear, just enjoy. There won't be any problems with the dynamics or sensitivity. Marantz, KEF and QED are good products.

We will wait for your review.

At last the search comes to a fruitful end!
Congrats, Vpriyan, and many happy hours of listening.
Do post your experience with your setup.
Kamal

sure will post the experience with photographs...

just now bought Voltage Stabilizer and a spike buster for my dream system. I bought V-Guard 500KVA stabilizer which is normally used for refrigerator.

square_wave schrieb:

Hi Bombaywalla, What is a Naamdah ? Even I want to do this. I have my speakers 1.5 feet into the room and two feet from the side walls. That is all I can do in my room. And I have rear firing ports :{

you see that round, white, circular "carpet" in Shahrukh's pix?
That, I believe, is a Kashmiri style every-day carpet (I could be wrong! OR, is it from Rajasthan?). It's very thin but looks pretty with the designs they put on them.
Atleast that's what I know as a naamdah. FWIW.

Finally I got my setup on Sunday.

By the way how to insert image in this posting...

bombaywalla schrieb:

square_wave schrieb: Hi Bombaywalla, What is a Naamdah ? Even I want to do this. I have my speakers 1.5 feet into the room and two feet from the side walls. That is all I can do in my room. And I have rear firing ports :{ you see that round, white, circular "carpet" in Shahrukh's pix? That, I believe, is a Kashmiri style every-day carpet (I could be wrong! OR, is it from Rajasthan?). It's very thin but looks pretty with the designs they put on them. Atleast that's what I know as a naamdah. FWIW.

Yup.. that's Kashmiri!

This is my setup

http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00176zo.jpg

Nice pic but that TV is bugging me big time...try removing it and then listening to your speakers...let us know if you find any difference.

I also like your choice of all-black electronics...looks classy and more expensive

You may want move the speakers a little apart. How does it sound?

As of now the sound is 'OK' but not the best.. sounds a little bit harsh..have to break-in

by the way can anyone please tell me what is the optimum run-in period for KEF iQ5?

vpriyan schrieb:

As of now the sound is 'OK' but not the best.. sounds a little bit harsh..have to break-in by the way can anyone please tell me what is the optimum run-in period for KEF iQ5?

Shahrukh schrieb:

A word of caution! Out of the box new iQ5s sound horrible! So your first coupla weeks (2 months in my case) might be a little frustrating.

Looks good. Enjoy.
Try not to plug in the amp into that v-guard stabilizer or even that cheapo extension box. Try a direct connection into wall or get a high quality extension box done with fuse and all that.

But direct connection with wall is dangerous right? what happens if spikes or voltage fluctuation occurs

None of these stabilizers actually protect you from a spike. They will go right through. A good servo stabilizer can give you protection from fluctuation. The tiny transformer in the v-guard won’t be able to supply steady current when the transformer in the amp asks for it during peaks and dips in the music. It will severely affect dynamics. Most speakers will dip to round 2-3 ohm during peaks and the amp will need to get instantaneous current without any bottle-necks.
For example, the Nad c370 transformer is rated to supply instantaneous current of 1kw during peaks. What if you have this connected to a 300va Stabilizer ?

abhi.pani schrieb:

Nice pic but that TV is bugging me big time...try removing it and then listening to your speakers...let us know if you find any difference.

I think that you might be focusing a bit too much on that TV!
I agree with you that it is/could be an issue but he has others that I think need to be addressed 1st such as the bare floor in front of the speakers & the chair barely out of the speaker's firing path on the right side & the proximity of the speakers to the rear wall. I think that the gains from these short-comings will yield more than just covering the TV.

vpriyan schrieb:

As of now the sound is 'OK' but not the best.. sounds a little bit harsh..have to break-in by the way can anyone please tell me what is the optimum run-in period for KEF iQ5?

there is no optimum time for speaker break-in. each speaker is a bit different but mostly what one is trying to do during break-in is to loosen the woofer rubber surround. The passive components need very little break-in time - 20-25 hrs should be just fine. SOmetimes speaker manuf use a certain internal hook-up wire that needs looong break-in. In such cases, the manuf specifies that X hrs are needed. I do not think that KEF has any such requirements.
My suggestion would be to play the speaker at low volumes every day after you get back from work for 2-3 hrs.

Here's a very good way to break-in a speaker: Place the speakers as close to each other - say, 1" or less - without letting them touch each other. Wire 1 speaker out-of-phase & play some music or a test track on repeat. the out-of-phase cancels out the sound emitted but the speakers still get a great work-out.

Bombaywalla this is a temporary setup. Have to cover the bare floors and move the chairs..

As of now the setup has run for 10 hrs. But I heard the difference between sunday and yesterday with Diana Krall - Love Scenes CD. The voice became smooth and the bass extension was a bit more.

This setup is really awesome. I didn't expect this kind of sound from this setup as my configuration was a bit random (KEF with Marantz). Didn't saw anyone in this forum to have this combo. So I thought I am taking risk but now really the sound quality is WOAH....

First I heard Subbulakshmi's suprabatham as per the command given by my mom. Subbulakshmi's voice is so natural that we felt as if she is sitting in front of us.

Then I heard Dil Se and really in any song Jiya Chale or Dil Se re...the dynamics are great. Then I listen to Mozart clarinet Concerto where the only place I found the smoothness of clarinet was not there.

Coming to hard core Jazz, in Stan Getz - Getz for lovers the saxophone was very open without any colouration. Then in Vande Mataram 2nd track..Can't explain..you should listen to it... Ilayaraja's Thiruvasagam is another such experience...This is another Audiophile CD.

Finally this is the setup I wanted for......

Hi vpriyan

You have now come to the BEST Part...

Simply sit back and ENJOY !

Hi vpriyan,
Great to see you as a happy man after all this gruelling over equipments. Thank God there was no mess up. You stuck to a very decent and safe choice. Both the equipments are well known for their SQ and there was little risk pairing them together. You have done it in the end...ENJOY and let us know your feedback from time to time, that will help other newbies to select their system.

You like Stan Getz.
Pick this one up. Bossas & Ballads: The Lost Sessions. You won’t switch your system off. Very creative Jazz and the recording has that “ lit from inside” feel to it.

square wave, thanks for the info. this weekend I am going to music world and purchase these cds.

That is actually one cd. Bossas & Ballads:The Lost Sessions is the name.

vpriyan schrieb:

This setup is really awesome. I didn't expect this kind of sound from this setup as my configuration was a bit random (KEF with Marantz). Didn't saw anyone in this forum to have this combo. So I thought I am taking risk but now really the sound quality is WOAH....

No risks buddy. BTW, there is someone else on this forum with KEF/Marantz setup.
Maybe not exactly the same as yours, but a Marantz/KEF iQ5 setup nevertheless.

The sound will keep getting better. Enjoy your system. BTW, which interconnects are you using?

Yes your are right Sharukh..

I am using QED Quenex 2 Interconnect

By the way can anyone please tell me whether I can go for Monster Cable MP AV600 Power Protector?

This seems to be a good Power Protector and I can use this instead of V-Guard Voltage stabilizer

after 1 month of break-in now the sound is more detailed and smooth. Particularly low frequency excels....

BUT SAD NEWS

I think I will move abroad next month or so and my mom doesn't want this sytem to be here unnecassirly . I don't know what to do...I can't take this with me...Thinking of selling it.....

Soon you can see my system in Buy & Sell section...

THIS IS CALLED FATE

Hi Vipriyan,

Congrats and good luck. Moving abroad can be seen as an opertunity to get experience much more audio toys.

Good luck pal

Anil