Recommendations for good but small system?

[Nadim]

Dusty Chalk - I'm gonna have to give that Kenwood a listen...sounds like it's right up the alley I'm looking for. I'm a tad
bit confused though. Neruda called it the VH-600, you called it
RD-VH7, and Kenwood's USA site doesn't mention it, or anything like it. I guess I'm not sure what's going on here, does Kenwood have something against marketing cool stuff in the US, or is their US web site crew just not up to par?

mattbr - Hmmmm....I don't see prices there, but a search turned up something on the order of 600 British pounds for the transport. As far as I can tell, it's just a Sony transport stuck in a small (but apparently loud) case, with no buttons and a crappy remote. Here's a review that highlights these things. Although there is certainly a lot of cool stuff out there in the market, sometimes I see things that just call to mind P.T. Barnum's famous saying...

-Nadim

 

[ian]

I think the VH-600 is the system (cd player/amp, and speakers) and the RD-VH7 is just the cd player/amp peice. But I'm not positive

I'm interested in this unit as well by the way

Would be perfect for my tiny desk setup. If you get to hear one I expect to hear all about it!

 

[Nadim]

A little more info on small systems for work... Looks like Denon offers the D-M30 (and UD-M30 without speakers, but only in the UK?

), and the D-M50. Only difference I can tell is a 3-disc transport in the 50. Also, Denon offers a slightly more
expensive D-F100 system which is separated into receiver and CDP, a has a few more functions (like << and >> buttons that function as both track skip and ff/rw....it burns me up that the $400 D-M30 doesn't have the same basic button function flexibility that you'd find on a $30 Sony discman...)
If you go to Denon's UK site, it's advertising the new D-F101 (which, I guess, will replace the D-F100)...it's got a 24 bit 96 KHz DAC....should sound better. I can't find any mention of it in the US, though (grrr...).

Also, I noticed that Yamaha has a similarly priced and sized series, the MCR-E150 (1 disc transport, one piece system) and MCR-E250 (3 disc transport, two piece system).

Anyone A/B'd the Denon and Yamaha systems, since they're quite comparable in features and price? I'd be interested in seeing if one sounded better (through the headphone jack, although speaker comparisons are welcome too, I guess).

Anyone know how to get just the Denon UD-Mx0 series or the D-F101 (with or without speakers) in the US?

I couldn't find any place local that carried the Kenwood VH-600

, but I'm gonna try and go and A/B the Denon and Yamaha systems tomorrow if I still have time left after getting packed and ready (heading on vacation to China for 2 weeks on Sunday...).

-Nadim

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nadim Dusty Chalk - I'm gonna have to give that Kenwood a listen...sounds like it's right up the alley I'm looking for. I'm a tad bit confused though. Neruda called it the VH-600, you called it RD-VH7, and Kenwood's USA site doesn't mention it, or anything like it. I guess I'm not sure what's going on here, does Kenwood have something against marketing cool stuff in the US, or is their US web site crew just not up to par?

Yeah, they discontinued it here in the US. I wasn't as lucky (or perhaps ambitious) as Neruda -- I had to buy mine from Japan. They were still selling them in Japan, presumably because the target market there appreciated it.

I notice you're in California -- you may want to try all of your local Good Guys. If any of the individual stores have any left, that's one place where you might find them. The stores as a chain is sold out, but that only means that they don't have any left in the warehouse. Some of the individual stores may still have them. Quote:

Originally posted by ian I think the VH-600 is the system (cd player/amp, and speakers) and the RD-VH7 is just the cd player/amp peice. But I'm not positive

Yeah, something like that, I'm not positive either. I ended up looking for both.

 

[Nadim]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dusty Chalk I notice you're in California -- you may want to try all of your local Good Guys. If any of the individual stores have any left, that's one place where you might find them. The stores as a chain is sold out, but that only means that they don't have any left in the warehouse. Some of the individual stores may still have them.[/B]

I stopped by last night on the way home from work...the guy there said the hadn't carried the Kenwood for about a year. He did check the database to see if any other stores showed up as having one for me, but no dice. No TEAC Reference either. Gonna make doing A/B comparisons a litte hard.

They did have the 3 Denon systems and the 2 Yamaha systems there, though.

-Nadim

 

[HappymaN]

I chose the Denon UD-M30 over the similarly priced Yamaha systems, both for sonic reasons (I'm talking speakers) and aesthetically.

 

[Nadim]

HappymaN - I see from your sig that you prefer the amplification from your CMoy to that of the UD-M30's headphone jack? I found that the headphone jack was able to effortlessly drive the 300 Ohm Senn 580s, with only a smidge more on the volume knob than when driving my Etys (4Ps). It didn't sound like it was having a hard time at all, although I don't have a CMoy (yet) to do a decent A/B test. Do you care to elaborate, from your experience, the diferences you've noticed between the CMoy and the UD-M30's headphone jack?

(I just got one of the new limited edition Cinnamon Altoids tins for making my own, but not sure if it would be worth it for home use connected to a decent system.)

-Nadim

 

[Watchdog]

Nadim, I have the Linn Classik and I'm extremely happy with it.

It is a little light on power though, so if you get it make sure you either use 4 ohm speakers, for which it is rated or get really high efficiency speakers.

I have The Little Version from Headroom and while I haven't done a detailed comparison b/t the headphone jack on my Classik and the Little, I'd say based on informal/casual listening that there doesn't appear to be a dramatic difference.

If anyone is interested, then I'll do a detailed comparison.

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF The best "minisystem" I've heard that's less than the Linn Klassik is the NAD Music System. It combines an NAD 500-series CD player, 300-series amp, and a great NAD FM tuner into one component. Plus you get PSB Alpha Minis and some decent speaker cable. The headphone jack is excellent. A really amazing system and very small.

Fully agree. I have the L-40 NAD system and, for the price, it's a great system. It is on the warm side and a little less detailed than others but an amazing value nonetheless. The PSB Alpha Minis are a steal, too.

 

[HappymaN]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nadim HappymaN - I see from your sig that you prefer the amplification from your CMoy to that of the UD-M30's headphone jack? I found that the headphone jack was able to effortlessly drive the 300 Ohm Senn 580s, with only a smidge more on the volume knob than when driving my Etys (4Ps). It didn't sound like it was having a hard time at all, although I don't have a CMoy (yet) to do a decent A/B test. Do you care to elaborate, from your experience, the diferences you've noticed between the CMoy and the UD-M30's headphone jack? (I just got one of the new limited edition Cinnamon Altoids tins for making my own, but not sure if it would be worth it for home use connected to a decent system.) -Nadim

 

[HappymaN]

What the? Who deleted my answer to his question?!??!!

Anyway, what I said was, basically:

The CMOY provides a rather large sonic improvement over the jack on the unit itself. The bass response is much more controlled, and defined. The highs are crystal clear, and the overall sound is much more transparent. Although I must say, it was the highs which gained the most improvement of all. It was a sound investment.