[kkc]

I recently repaired my AR94s. They now sound superb. I can hear sounds that I never knew existed in my recordings.

I still have to upgrade the wiring and caps.

I would be keen for some suggestions on suitable amps and CD players.

My total budget is GBP2000 +/- GBP200.

My feeling right now is to spend the bulk of the money on the best
possible amp. With CD technology changing so rapidly, I suspect that
the CD player may well get replaced after a few years. Also if the CD
feeds digital into the amp, I see no "real" reason why quality cannot
be maintained. I am not sure I buy into all the mechanical reasons
for CD players needing an expensive chassis etc because memory based
buffers should handle any mechanically caused errors. And digitally,
its either a "1" or a "0" state that is being read.

I would also consider building the amp from an off the shelf kit.

My criteria for the amp are:

- remote (vol, input select, bass, treble)
- ipod/aux input (I know its not hifi, but then.... !!)
- bass, treble, direct controls (some of my recordings were made live
in the 50s in Africa, also for managing ipod type inputs...!)
- large diameter wire taps
- impedance 8 ohm (5 ohm minimum) from AR94 speakers
- optical in/out
- have I missed anything out?

Thanks in advance. kkc.

[JLM]

kkc,

Not many on this side of the pond (this being a mostly American site) held to the AR faith into the 90's, so please excuse our ignorance.  But here's a nice write up of what you've been through:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/ar94rebuild_e.html

According to the link they are a 2.5 way sealed design using a pair of 8 inch drivers, 87 dB/w/m, and need lots of current.

I agree with your assessment of the speed that digital sources are developing.  I'd look for a CDP with a good transport and digital outputs so you can add a DAC later.  If you're computer savy you could start with a Squeeze Box.  It can be modded to sound very very good.  It has a digital volume control so a pre-amp is optional.  It can also be used (with a computer) as a transport only and again you can add a DAC later for flexibility and possibly even better sound.

Seems to me that those speakers are begging for a big solid state amp.  Adding all those features limits your options and may very well reduce the quality available as most audiophiles trade quality for complexity and would probably go with digital equalization before tone controls.  You'll probably have to go with separates to get the features and quality, but it'll most likely blow your budget.  It almost sounds like you're looking for a high-end receiver (their all designed for multi-channel home theater nowadays so you'd be paying for extra channels).

[kkc]

Thanks JLM. 

I ended up getting Channels Islands Audio D200 monoblocks and the matching passice PLC1 pre-amp.  The D200s are Class D.  The sound is superb, very transparent and confident.  The PLC has no bass, treble, balance control so I ended up compromising on my initial list of wants, but not really compromising on the sound quality if you see what i mean. 

Anyway, the details can be seen on the CIAudio forum on this site.

[shep]

I am on your side of the pond (well sort of/France) May I suggest the following? Buy a 2nd hand Marantz cdp-67 (cheap) Send it to these people http://www.sercal-electronics.co.uk/. They are very reliable and very good at this. You can chose the full mod or variations. They turn a very mundane player into something breathtaking. I know, I have one. Brent is the man and he is very easy to talk to and deal with.

[kkc]

Thanks Shep, I have dumped my old Sony portable CD player, which was in fact extremely.  I now use the Philips DVD player and send the digital output to the CIAudio DAC.  This completely opens up the soundstage.  I have a complete system now - just waiting to upgrade the speaker crossovers, receive the new Harmonic Tech speaker cables and the DC blocker (also from CIAudio) and then I will be set (assuming I don't completely blow my speakers with the DIY tweaks...!).   The new DVD players are pretty cheap and have excellent clocks, so the DAC really is all that is required with this route.
 

[shep]

Right you are! another road...keep that link for furture ref. It's a winner.