New to the site. Advice!

[19carl84]

Morning all, I am after advice. I have a ROKSAN KANDY set up including Integrated amp,power amp, cd player with Thorens TD295 deck with Creek phono stage all into Monitor audio RS8 speakers. I am looking to add to this system if possible. Can i pre amp this set up, if so how and what will the benifits be if any. Any other sugestions. My cales are Blue heaven inter connectsand QED silver speaker wire. Many thanks

[audio amateur]

What exactly do you which to 'add' to your system?

[Feanor]

Morning all, I am after advice. I have a ROKSAN KANDY set up including Integrated amp,power amp, cd player with Thorens TD295 deck with Creek phono stage all into Monitor audio RS8 speakers. I am looking to add to this system if possible. Can i pre amp this set up, if so how and what will the benifits be if any. Any other sugestions. My cales are Blue heaven inter connectsand QED silver speaker wire. Many thanks

If you want to put a preamp in front of an integrated amp, the prefered way is to connect the preamp's outputs to the integrated's "power in" (a.k.a. "main in") connectors. This pair of connectors will bypass the integrated's internal preamp section which is what you want to do, presumably.

The trouble is that many integrateds don't have Power In connectors -- I don't know about the Kandy, but have a look. When this is the case, you can connect the preamp's inputs to any of the integrated's source input connectors. If you must do this, it's good practice to set the integrated's volume for "unity gain", that is, the point where the integrated's internal preamp section is neither amplifying nor attenuating the external preamp's output. Unfortunately you usually have no precise way to know which volume setting provides the "unity gain", though it tends to be somewhere between 12 and 2 o'clock on a analog rotary dial. Your integrated's manufacturer might be able to advise.

[bobsticks]

Hey Carl, welcome to the forum.

Feanor is, of course, correct on how one would go about doing this. The question is, "is it advisable?" or "will it get you where you want to go?".

While I'm willing to accept that others may have had differing experiences, I've heard this done a few times and it yielded small, incremental differences at best. If you have a specific area in which you'd like to improve your system identifying that might be better than just "adding" for the sake of adding.

As an aside, I'd congratulate you on already having a solid, well-rounded system. Roksan makes nice stuff as does Monitor. I suspect that you're looking to hear something "different" which isn't uncommon. You might find a greater variance from experimenting with a different speaker, although you may be limited if the Roksan's wattage is light which the choice of the Monitor's hints to. Also consider a different source. Depending on your musical tastes a Universal player with SACD capability might be a cost-effective way to enjoy some new sounds.

In any event, it's good to have another enthusiast onboard and I hope to read about your next steps.

[Ajani]

Morning all, I am after advice. I have a ROKSAN KANDY set up including Integrated amp,power amp, cd player with Thorens TD295 deck with Creek phono stage all into Monitor audio RS8 speakers. I am looking to add to this system if possible. Can i pre amp this set up, if so how and what will the benifits be if any. Any other sugestions. My cales are Blue heaven inter connectsand QED silver speaker wire. Many thanks

What do you not like about the sound of your system? A Roksan/Monitor Audio combo should have good synergy... and you should have good dynamic range, since the MA's have 90db sensitivity combined with the 120 watts per channel output of the Roksan...

Are you looking to alter the sound in some way?

[19carl84]

Thanks for the replys all. I guess having built my system to the stage i have i am running out of kit to add. I am happy with the the sound but (if i have not already) i am wanting to get the optimum out of the system, ( the wife will kill me) without having to start moving up to the next level. Is it a case of seeking musical perfection that does not exist. I have tried numerous speakers and found the Monitor RS8'S well suited to ROKSAN. The reason i ask about pre amping was it was mentioned to me some time ago. My music taste is more uptempo and rock rather than classical. I guess its a case of be happy with what i have got till i win the lottery.

[blackraven]

If your wanting to change or upgrade the sound, consider a new CDP as mentioned before or an external DAC. For $1K-$1.5K you can get some nice DAC's.

[Ajani]

IMHO, If you really like the sound of your system then to significantly better the sound you'll need to spend a LOT of money... I usually find that tripling the cost of an item (I really like) is where I get substantial improvements...

So if you really like Monitor Audio Speakers, you'd need to move up to the Gold Series 60s to really improve on the RS8 (which will cost you just about triple)... Same for the Roksans, so given that Roksans retail for about $1.5K USD you really would need to be looking at Integrateds and CD Players above $4K to get significant improvements in the sound...

Of course, all this assumes that the Roksan/Monitor Audio is the best combo for you... if not then you can spend the same amount of money and get more enjoyment....

Either way, I don't expect that just adding a Preamp will significantly improve the sound of your system...

Nice Setup by the way!

[19carl84]

Thanks for that, You know what you have confirmed what i feared or was hoping. I have spent three years auditioning kit to suit my taste and this suited the ears and budget. To spend that amount would result in divorce so i best keep that idea under my hat. Cheers.


IMHO, If you really like the sound of your system then to significantly better the sound you'll need to spend a LOT of money... I usually find that tripling the cost of an item (I really like) is where I get substantial improvements...

So if you really like Monitor Audio Speakers, you'd need to move up to the Gold Series 60s to really improve on the RS8 (which will cost you just about triple)... Same for the Roksans, so given that Roksans retail for about $1.5K USD you really would need to be looking at Integrateds and CD Players above $4K to get significant improvements in the sound...

Of course, all this assumes that the Roksan/Monitor Audio is the best combo for you... if not then you can spend the same amount of money and get more enjoyment....

Either way, I don't expect that just adding a Preamp will significantly improve the sound of your system...

Nice Setup by the way!