Budget system not up to expectations...

Painter:

I will also have to concur with "Pe3046" when it comes to what type of system you are trying to put together with in reference to what type of electronics you are currently using. If this is going to be a mostly music system, then while your speakers and source (for now) appears to be fine, I cannot help but wonder why would you be using an a/v receiver to anchor your music system??? In such a system, I think that either an two channel integrated amplifier (from the likes of Arcam, Creek, or Rotel) or a "entry-level" preamp/power amplifier setup (from the likes of Adcom, NAD, Parasound, or Rotel) would make better sense. With exception to my preamp (I own the flagship Adcom GFP-750), my own amplifier (an Adcom GFA-545 MkII that is of 1991 vintage) is in the same price class as one you should be considering for your system as well. A change in cable wouldn't hurt matters much either. I currently use MIT cables (MITerminator 2 and MITerminator 3 Interconnects with MITerminator 2 Speaker Cables) in my system as well. With a few exceptions, a/v receivers are fantastic for movies, but they would be the last things I would pick if I am assembling a music system. But now, if this is going to be more of a movie system than a music system, then the choice to use a receiver becomes more valid then.

And by the way, how is that Apex DVD Player holding up??? If I am purchasing a cheap dvd player, I would think that Toshiba or Sony would make better choices as well.

And lastly, make sure your speakers are wired "in phase" before making any quick judgements. If they sound muffled and closed in, it could be that your system is "out of phase" as well. This can be easily corrected by making sure your amplifier terminals match up with your speaker terminals when you are connecting them together (i.e.: red terminal from receiver to red terminal at the speaker, and black terminal from receiver to black terminal at the speaker).

Check your connections first. If they seem to be intact, then I would check all of my equipment after that.

Good Luck........

--Charles--

Thanks for the replies!

I guess now if you'll oblige me, does anyone feel up to playing the "match a new integrated amp to my speakers and cables" game?
Hopefully I'll be able to return the Denon, but I am "stuck" with the CDMs and AP-O9s for now. Obviously price is an issue, but if there's an amazing enough unit, I might throw prudence out the window.
Being forced to choose, this will be a music system, as opposed to HT.

Budget: $400 (less if possible, but perhaps could go to around $600 if it was really, really warranted.)

Now on to the specific replies:

1. Natalie: Uhm, thanks for the vague advice. I'm accepting any donations you're offering to help better my system. In the meantime, I'll spend the money that I can.

2. Pe3046: I think I'm in agreement with you. It's all after-the-fact, tho. I thought my research was rock solid, but maybe I should've Posted (here) Before Purchace.

3. Jameswei: Sadly, I think the Onkyo/lampcord sounds slightly better... Could this be the Denon requiring burn-in time?

4. Gunbei: I wanted the best of both worlds, of course! Heh, yeah... I think I do have the curse--pretty badly, too.

5. Bluefin: Are you really saying to get rid of my cables to match the quality of the Denon? I couldn't recoop any cash from the cables at this point, so I'm hesitant to even consider it. My listening room is not ideal at this point, (building a new home soon) but I've situated the speakers as best I can.

6. Bishopwill: Just to be sure, I mis-wired them, and my head nearly imploded in the sonic vacuum! AAIIIEEE!

7. Rives: Done and Done. I think I'd be interested in one of your Test CDs, as I'm currently using my favorite discs as unquantifiable reference.

8. Chaskelljr2001: "...why would you be using an a/v receiver to anchor your music system???" 1.) I didn't set out to create an exclusive music system 2.) Incorrect interpretation of research / belief in web reviews.
"A change in cable wouldn't hurt matters much either." To a more expensive one? NoCanDo.
"And by the way, how is that Apex DVD Player holding up???" The Apex is my favorite little $69 gadget ever. It plays DVDs, DVD-R, VCD, SVCD, MPEG1s, MP3s, JPGs, and a few other odd formats. You can reprogram the ROM to make it region free, disable Macrovision and burn in a custom-made graphical background. Not very "phile" oriented, but a beautiful little H4xie workhorse.

"Sadly, I think the Onkyo/lampcord sounds slightly better"

It might actually. I tried the AP oval 9 a couple years ago in my 2ch system that was about $10k then (Hybrid tube/ss circuits). It didn't do anything performance wise and I went back to my longer runs of Kimber 4PR I'd had for 7 years. (When the salesmen found out I was using 4PR they'd always freak out like I was heretic, but it didn't bother me since I knew better). When I emailed analysis plus asking the LCR values of their cables--they wouldn't even give me an answer. Just one of these politician BS answers that circumvents the question "we feel that inductance is largely misunderstood in cable....blah, blah, blah". You could sell the AP at over half, maybe 2/3 of what you paid.

NAD builds nice integrateds for <$400 new and the older Audiolab 8000 series were pretty good units too. If you insist on using one of these high peformance cables you might want to try something like Kimber 4PR for a system like yours or another cheaper cable like Bluefin says. Personally, spending more money on your speaker cables than your amp, as others have noted, really isn't the best way to get maximum performance.

Search older threads on budget integrateds for more discourse, there should be quite a few.

Painter, my experience with friends I've known assembling low to mid fi systems is that when they bring one or two pieces from a store into thier own system, it sounds completely different, especially in the amp/cable/speaker loop. The way these 3 interact can be frustrating. More expensive isn't necessarily better if things don't mate up.
If you're rich, you can keep swapping things out till you get a good match. If you're not, things are tough! The above respondents certainly were not sensitive to that. You need to get all your gear to a shop, cables included, to try as many combinations as possible...or find some way to get a bunch of gear/cables to your place for trial. There is no other way.

Painter,
Does the Denon have an analog or 2-ch direct feature? And do you have any friends or a cooperative dealer from whom to get some other/better gear to try? I'd be curious about 3 options:
1. a better CDP analog into the receiver's analog bypass
2. an outboard 2-ch amp
3. an outboard small integrated (in addition to, not in lieu of, your receiver)
If you are saying you could spend an additional $400-600, I think any of these will offer an improvement, but it'd be nice to try before you buy to see which offers the best return to your ears.