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$1000 upgrade. Opinions?

What would you do? I am prepared to consider all opinions no matter how strange they may sound.
I listen to different kinds of music; no big orchestras, no opera, no country, no rap. The system should be able to play well both jazz/rock and female vocal and various world beats from Brazil to Middle East by way of Ireland and North Africa.
The only two things that I don't consider upgrading now is speakers and cassette deck.
The room is relatively small and rectangular, about 150sqf. But I may move soon enough so I have no intention to acoustically treat it unless I could use this stuff in another room later.
Here is what I have:
Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm with Dynavector 10X5 cartridge.
Acoustech PH-1 phono stage, good for both MM and LOMC.
CEC TL5100Z belt drive cd player.
Nakamichi 682ZX deck.
Audiolab 8000LX integrated, original made in England. Quite powerful for 60 watt/ch/8ohm. Has pre-amp out.
Michael Green Audio Revolution 80i free resonance floorstanding speakers.
Purist Audio Colossus speaker cables, Maximus interconnect.
Custom Power Cord Co. Top Gun power cords for the phono stage and the Audiolab; model Hi Value for the player.
Furman 1215 voltage regulator/conditioner.
Boston Audio, Polycrystal, Audiopoints, Isoblock footers. Polycrystal spikes for speakers.
What would I like to improve? Well, everything. Also, I have no idea how these speakers would sound with tubes.
inna
inna OP
7,913 posts
 
I will upgrade the speakers later to Michael Green Chameleons or something else but that's not $1k upgrade.
Dedicated line is not possible in the apartment. I was thinking about big cartridge upgrade or adding power amp. I don't think that low compliance and heavy MC will work well with this arm. The cheapest Lyra, don't remember the model, is light and medium compliance, so it should work. But I have no idea how it will actually sound in this arm and the whole set-up.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Don't do anything right now. Wait until you moved and use the money to treat the new room.

I know it is very tempting to change equipment because it is easy - buy something, hook it in, instant gratification. But if you want to get the best sound for the money, room treatment should be the priority.
dover
2,299 posts
 
My view would be to replace the Audiolab. This amp is quite mechanical sounding and in the states you have access to some great pre/power amps at wonderful prices second hand. Because the Audiolab can be split you could do the power amp first, use the Audiolab as a preamp only, then upgrade the preamp later. I like tube pre with solid state power combo's for ease of use and compatibility speakers.
inna OP
7,913 posts
 
As usual, very different opinions. And all make sense. "Do nothing now" is also the least expensive.
Audiolab is not really mechanical sounding but it's not Rowland or Gryphon integrateds you know.
inna OP
7,913 posts
 
Audiolab was actually the first piece in the current system. I myself am surprised how much performance you can sometimes extract from a modest piece of equipment.
So far no one mentioned upgrading the tonearm, adding DAC to the player or getting super $1k interconnect. Or super isolation platform for the table or/and the rest of the stuff.
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