Creek 5350SE vs Rega Mira 3

Naim n-Vi integrated CD/DVD player/processor/amplifier. All-in-one unit - costs like $6K. Get some good $2-3K speakers and some speaker cables and you are good to go at your budget. Plays movies too.

Well, that sounds good. Only one prob....... No TV here.... Don't miss it either, not planning on replacing it anytime. Funny, I have no prob dropping 5 - 10K on audio, but 2K on a TV????? Never.....

One thing that bothers me about the Creek. The idea of seperate PCB's for the pre-amp, amp, etc. is great. The use of "computer" grade flat ribbon cables to interconnect them is where the problem lies. 1's and 0's aren't the same as analog audio signals....

I'm a circuit board designer.... have been for over 20 years...

Weellll... The Rega Mira 3 is sounding quite nice :)

It has a sweet, delicate, polite but lively sound.
Not a trace of harshness. Even seems a bit palpable. Definitely lacking in authority compared to some other amps. It has a hint of grain, but less grain than other solid state I've had in my house. I detect some congestion.

I'm driving Silverline Sonatina II's in a room probably larger than intended for the Mira. I do use a REL Strata II subwoofer, which augments the low end. This might be an important ingredient. But I'm on a big subwoofer kick these days (I've got a REL T1 on my Monitor Audio iDeck in bedroom :-o )

I'm only two hours into it. Will update if changes. Right now I'd say that I could easily live with the Mira (if tubes were not an option) and get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Art

As an afterthought, I swapped in my Audience powerchord in place of the generic. This is what I use on my Cary, and damn, if that Mira isn't starting to sound like the Cary. The powerchord made a SCARY differnce. Ok, everything boils down to system synergy etc... and do you really want a $600 powercord on a $1200 integrated. (Yes!!)

YMMV.
Art