2. amps-preamps
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upgrade advice for budget-minded beginner

I was looking for some advice on possible upgrade paths. I'm new to this A'gon community and want to get the most out of my "investments" since I'm a college student with limited funds. Currently, I have B&W 602s with an old Denon DCD1000, Yamaha M-60, and a Kenwood pre that needs to go. My noise floor is just awful, the highs are very forward and bright, and alot of music sounds lifeless and overtly digital.
I was considering the Onix reference 1/SP3/XCD88 combo for $1500, but wasn't sure if the Ref1's would be a huge step up from my 602s thus justifying the purchase. Also, I've never heard a tube amp, and although the characteristic naturalness and soundstage abilities seem to be what I'm looking for the supposed lack of woofer control and low wattage make me a bit nervous.
Another option I was toying with was keeping the Yamaha M-60 and adding an Eastern Electric Minimax preamp and possibly CDP to my setup hoping to take the edge off the highs, open up my soundstage, and eliminate background noise.
Basically, I was wondering what people that have more experience with this hobby think would yield the most "bang for the buck" in my situation. I want a deep and broad soundstage, natural sounding mids, musical highs, and authoritative bass but don't want to spend an arm and a leg to get it (like everyone else, I'm sure!). I'd appreciate any input, and am sorry about the length of the post.
ethanh
etran
67 posts
 
Well, Ethanh had the Onix xcd-88 in mind then why pay $240 more for the Music Hall CD-25, same unit. If you want to tame the brightness the Onix or Music Hall wouldnot help without mod. The Rega players in this case would be better choice. I agree with the Jolida upgrade path. Happy listening.
tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
I will chime in here and say that no specific piece by itself is worth recommending, because it is the whole that is important. It is my philosophy that the speakers and the source (CD or LP) are the most important links in the chain, and the amps and wires are secondary. If you like the sound of your speakers and you have grown accustomed to them, then keep them. The NAD is a great suggestion, as is the Marantz 7200. They have flexibility and a good clean sound for the money. I would have you spend most of your money on the CDP because if you get something you really like now, you will keep it for a long time. You might consider the Njoe Tjoeb 4000 which is a modded Marantz, although the Music Hall has a great sound and is a great piece for the money. Don't neglect the room for your setup. Even the best system will sound bad if the room and acoustics are bad. Good luck and let everyone know how it works out.
lion
6 posts
 
Hi Ethan,

No need to go integrated and lose upgrade flexibility.
If you do go integrated, Plinius is the best sounding for the money.

ALWAYS BUY USED AND SAVE YOUR $$$.

Easy to sell at same price if you change your mind after a while.

Go for better known and musical pieces like:

PREAMPS: Dump the Kenwood pre. for $200 you can get an Apt Holman preamp. Vintage and solid state but very smooth and musical. Well made. Not plastic junque.
For $500-$600 the tubed Conrad Johnson PV-10 or 10A. Smooth, musical, holographic, newer, reliable.

CD: Dump the Denon CD. Any Rotel is much smoother and more musical. NAD not bad but there is better out there. Music Hall CD-25 is a nice one for a bit more $$$. Don't do Theta. Forward and aggressive sounding to me. Or if Denon has digital out, add a DAC such as my Musetex for sale at $450. Or older Audio Alchemy is cheap, smooth, musical.

POWER AMP: Yamaha not bad. Try it with the CJ preamp before changing. B&Ws do agree with tubes but more power is better. And very expensive.

WIRES: Cardas or Audioquest. Buy the best you can afford but Cardas Neutral Reference or AQ Python will make a world of difference.

SPEAKERS: I like B&Ws and yours are fine as is for now to me.

Al Slater from Plateau Audio (lion)
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Hi Ethan. Rich's advice (Rar1) is excellent, as usual. Notice that he's talking about your front end. For many of us, speakers are the last thing to upgrade. This is because it is easier, musically, to live with speakers that partially reveal a great source, than to live with speakers that let absolutely all of an ordinary source come through.

If the Onix is really the same as the old Music Hall 25/Shanling CD-S100 I used to have and traded to my brother for a nice guitar, go for it. It is the best you can find for the money, even including vintage. Upgrade the power cord when you can, it will like that.

I like the NAD C320 BEE so much, I bought... no not the company, I bought three of the amps. If you are an audio phool you might get more pleasure out of buying ( and restoring ) vintage for the same money, but the NAD is simple to use, does all you need and sounds great. If you are a borderline phool, it is tweakable, with better jumpers, power cord and terminals.

Note that this combination of source and amp is not going to cost a whole lot. Easy to find too. You can get the C320 BEE used here ( and maybe the CD-25 too, but for only a tad less than the Onix new ).

Once you have all that, plus cables, your next upgrade step will be... no not the speakers. Start all over again at the source, and work downstream through the amp. Then you can change the speakers!
kotta's avatar
kotta
649 posts
 
I would get a better pre-amp and see how things sound. Consider the excellent solid state Nakamichi CA-5 Pre-amp. The Denon CDP would come next. I wouldn't necessary disregard older CD players. Rotel's RCD-855 is a great CDP. Don't laugh but my CDP in my main system is an 1986 NEC CD-650. Had an a chance to audition the Thule CB-150 CDP and was very impressed. You never mentioned your cables. This is extremely important. I'm using a mix of cables and IMO the Wireworld Oasis 3 is a fanastic IC for the $. You really don't need to spend a whole lot. Good advice from all the previous posts. Good Luck!
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