System setup help for PMC twenty:26
Posted by: Fazakas Tamas on 02 December 2015
Hi Guys, please help me out as I think I’m getting lost in the variations and combinations of the Naim products and my existing stuff and worrying about making mistakes.
My budget is ideally £4000 but max £5000 (don’t let my wife know :-)
I’m a happy owner of PMC 26 with a lovely DAC and looking for decent setup around it. My main target is getting the best stereo system but I would like to fit an AV receiver as well using pre out or alternatively I can use my Dune Duo media player with its analogue 7.1 output for home theatre. I would also like to stream music from my NAS and Spotify (can’t do with Dune). I have a spare integrated Cambridge Audio stereo amp in case of driving the rear speakers for home theatre.
I don’t mind buying couple of years old 2nd hand stuff.
Many thanks in advance for any help and idea!
Hi,
Reading in between the lines, it seems you need some good old Naim amplification.
As the 26s are pretty high-end, I think you should aim for a 282 pre-amp as I think it is great VFM second-hand and, for me at least, where the range starts to sound realistic. Add a used non-DR Supercap plus a 200 and you will have a really decent system.
ATB Ray
Fazakas Tamas: I have a spare integrated Cambridge Audio stereo amp
best to dispose of it, can't even compare with naim amps.
best to dispose of it, can't even compare with naim amps.
I know, I know, but to be honest it should be fine for me to drive the rear speakers in home theatre, specially if I can save money here and spend more for stereo.
From that perspective the second hand market might be a more effective way to get the amplification they deserve in your budget.
Decent stereo through that will sound miles better than tacking on 1k of surround gear. I would forget about surround until the opportunity arises to do it right. It doesn't need to be on par with the main steteo setup but there is a level below which it is not worth bothering. I solved it by just having 2 systems in the same room. The main Naim setup and a completely self contained AV setup with different main speakers. No where near the same quality but not cheap n cheerful either.
Thanks Ray!
I'm not sure what the 'lovely DAC' might be, but ditching it and getting a 272/250 might be an answer. A Naim amp such as 282, Hicap, 250, plus an NDX, is going to be well over budget. Either setup should be fine with the twenty.26.
My 20.26's sound fantastic on the end of NDS/252/300DR but obviously that's over budget. Just making the point that the further you go up the chain the better they sound. I've not tried any more expensive speakers but they don't sound like they're holding anything back.
On the AV side, I feed the front speaker output from the AV amp into the 252/300 using AV bypass on the 252 so that the front speakers are Naim driven. The AV amp then drives the centre, sub and rears. This set up sounds fantastic to my ears.
Thank you guys, it means I have to save more :-(
Is it be possible to build the configuration step by step and buy and enjoy something in the meantime? For instance buy an integrated Supernait 2 or Superuniti and upgrade it later with the NAP 250 or NAP 300 when I can afford it?
Or is it a big downgrade to include an integrated amp?
If you can lose the DAC, how much cash would that generate? As I suggested above, how about a 272/250DR. Or a 272/used 200 to get you going, then add an XPS, then swap the 200 for a 250DR or 300DR.
Having heard N272, XPS-DR and Nap300DR into PMC Twenty.26s, I echo HH's suggestion.
Chris
If you can lose the DAC, how much cash would that generate? As I suggested above, how about a 272/250DR. Or a 272/used 200 to get you going, then add an XPS, then swap the 200 for a 250DR or 300DR.
Oh, I thought that the 272 is just another pre amp... WOW, Many thanks, this is what I need! Just realised the fact what you guys obviously already know: the Naim is an amazing puzzle :-)
Thanks again!
Having heard N272, XPS-DR and Nap300DR into PMC Twenty.26s, I echo HH's suggestion.
Chris
Have to aim it!
Thanks Chris
The SN2 will already be very capable of powering them.
Even the XS2 does a fine job. But pesonally I prefer the Fact 8.
If you want more boxes, then 272/200 or 250 is the way to go.
272/XPSDR/300DR. I hope i can achieve that one day to drive my speakers.
Thanks Ken,
Originally I went to demo and buy the Fact 8 and after a long suffering I finally bought the twenty 26. I think the Fact 8 is a better pair of speaker but the twenty 26 is absolutely my taste. Maybe the fact 12 would be the absolute winner but I did not even give a chance to hear them as I have to look into my wife's and kids' eye and to be honest it is getting even harder :-)
Cheers,
Tom
Fazakas Tamas posted:... I have to look into my wife's and kids' eye and to be honest it is getting even harder :-)
If you want to be able to look with magnanimity, swap the 26s for my DB1is, you can also have a pic of me to stare at 
hafler3o posted:Fazakas Tamas posted:... I have to look into my wife's and kids' eye and to be honest it is getting even harder :-)
If you want to be able to look with magnanimity, swap the 26s for my DB1is, you can also have a pic of me to stare at
Very attractive offer, let me think about it :-)
You know I used to have the same concern. When I wanted to upgrade and get a whole new system in one go I was terrified. My wife was in the dem room and out comes the quote and she just said "If you knew how much I spend on shoes and bags you wouldn't be asking my permission. This is a lot less then that. Just buy it already."
Some concern here as it was over 25K of gear. I made her sell some old shoes and bags she never used once on ebay and that would have made a sizeable dent in the cost of the system (if it had been my money but it wasn't).
Fazakas Tamas posted:Originally Posted by feeling_zen:Home theatre: rear and centre speakers have been driven directly by the AV but the front speakers have been connected to the integrated amp and using the AV's pre-out to connect those boxes.With this setup all I had to do is just switch the integrated amp's input to the AV.
Spot on. I've integrated my Naim stereo system into my surround sound system as front left / right speakers by connecting the surround sound amp front left / right speaker preamp out into the Naim preamp AV in. Get a cable made up to facilitate this. The surround sound amp volume control then controls the front left / right speaker volume together with the other surround system speakers. All you then have to do is use your speaker set up menu on the surround amp to set the sound output levels of all your speaker to work together. Works great.
Ken
Fazakas Tamas posted:Thanks Ken,
Originally I went to demo and buy the Fact 8 and after a long suffering I finally bought the twenty 26. I think the Fact 8 is a better pair of speaker but the twenty 26 is absolutely my taste. Maybe the fact 12 would be the absolute winner but I did not even give a chance to hear them as I have to look into my wife's and kids' eye and to be honest it is getting even harder :-)
Cheers,
Tom
Was it the boogie-factor of the 26 that won you over?
Yeah, could not describe it better. I had a feeling that the Fact 8 is a best 'monitor' speaker with spectacular bass what I have ever tested and I had to look around in the room to find more speakers, as I could not believe that what I heard is coming from those lean and sexy boxes. But they're not monitor speakers.
I was really struggling to decide what to do and I found a few scenarios in my head: getting a sub to extend the bass and a wire with less silver as the treble was too much and the bass was too weak. I found that the Fact 8 is more selective in terms of the amps as we tried with a couple of other amps. But I promised to my wife that I won't buy anything if a I'm not 100% sure so I had to let them go.
Tamas,
With a NAP300DR behind your PMC Twenty. 26s, from experience, I'm not sure you've much to worry about. Nor your wife and children.
Best, Chris
Hm, without pre amp? Interesting...
Cheers Chris