Newbie System Question sort of long, sorry

My thoughts from a vet.

If you are not afraid of buying from the audiogon crowd.....

1. Get away from integrated equip! They do fine and I had the Krell 300i and was class A rated, but class B components killed the 300i. Plus you can mix and match for "your sound". Used equip. I would def. recomm. would be an Adcom GFP-750 pre, Meridian 518 pre/proc, VTL 2.5tl pre, any BAT pre........Adcom and Meridian you can find from 600-900$$ not bad........ AMPS ? more power is almost always better! Even if you had 300watts into 8ohms, who said you have to use them. The stage and more control always benefit from power plus if you upgrade to big ineff. speaks you still have the juice---- Adcom gfa-5802, C-J MF2500(a), Krell kav-250a, Bryston 4b-st, rotel rb-1090 or 1080 maybe..........

2. Cables: watch out.....buy used also....MIT 750 bi's or straight can find for $450 or less.....I feel that the 750 range is the most user friendly...or Kimber or van den Hul
IC's : like those mentioned above......Kimber or MIT can find whatever you want......PBJ, HERO, Silver Streak(my pref.) or a MIT 330.......one of those will do ya. Of course if you can find some Transparent for good $$$....

3. I think you can work with your RCD-02.....good reviews here and there.......or try a 971 or 991 used....even a Rega Planet(2000). Better YET!!! An ARCAM 7se, 9se or CD72 and above- great machines!! Those Arcams win most contests...check out What Hi-fi....

4. Speaks: not fam. with them but I believe they are pretty good.......so work with them too. Or try some PSB Stratus series, Paradigm Ref., Monitor Audio Silver S, Aeriel, Vienna Acoutics, Sonus...increase in $ after Monitor Audio....

5. Careful with surge protectors.....can limit power and alter natural sound. Like my friends say, you have house ins. right.....plug her into the wall until you can get a Ult. Outlet from PS Audio or similar for the $$.

Sorry to get long winded but you may be where I was many years ago and blew a lot of $$$ not knowing better. Used is the way to go if you have trust in others selling. BUT, listening at a dealer and getting their help is huge and it's tough to not give them a sale even if it costs you more. It will cost you more to buy used without knowing the equip, and then not liking it, to spending more at your fav. dealer and loving the music...........food for thought.

All of the equip needs to work together to get a nice sound, I don't know if % for each component is the way to go about setting up your system. It has its place, but use your ears and go with recomm. stuff

My experience is with:

Most BAT pre's and thier Integrated.
All VTL - very nice sound if you groove tubes.
Some Rotel, like your CD and the rb-1080.....
Classe - nearly full line......not too bad.
Bel Canto - very nice, and very efficient....
PS Audio - most of their pwr toys. not their amps, pre's yet
Hovland - nice, but goofy pre's and VTL has more pwr for < $$
MIT Cables- just a great cable in the upper $$...go used.
Nordost - nice, but really need to be matched!!! No joke.
Krell - good, but seperates are the best for here and need to
listen....can be metal sounding.....better $$ spent
with one of the above companies.
PSB - good bang for $, but need pwr!!
Monitor - good, but lively and forward....careful matching.
B&W - Nautilus - just awesome!! N803 and N802.
Verity Audio - amazing for size....$$$ though
Electrocompaniet - nice.
Arcam - best CD players around for fair $$ 7se to CD23
Meridian - anything together is nice....esp. CD players.

A few others but that is enough for anyone to pick a kickin system........... My Favs are the VTL and Bel Canto stuff with MIT 750 or above cables and PS Audio something or other UO or P300/p600, going into the N802 or Verity.

Want to try Vienna Acoutics and possibly Silverline stuff to see what that sounds like...........Have fun... Batman

Jetson, I hope you don't end up like Buckingham because he certainly went from newbie to diehard in a few short months. Heheh. Did you happen to take a look at his virtual system? A lot of time, research, money and labor went in to it.

OK, so you're looking for better lows and more sound envelopment. Actually, I've been on that very same trek myself. A few years ago I used Kimber PBJ interconnect and with the equipment I was using at the time felt it was a bit thin overall and tizzy up top. Changing to another inexpensive cable the Cardas Microtwin, transformed the character quite a bit. Highs became smoother and slightly rolled off, midrange and bass became fuller albeit a bit sloppy. I'm not sure if this is a move you'd like to make, but it's possible to affect the sound by changing an $80 interconnect.

If you're happy with the overall balance of the sound but want to add lower octaves maybe consider adding a sub. It does however entail more cost than replacing the PBJ and you also have the Wife Acceptance Factor to consider.

As far as sound envelopment I'd say experiment with speaker placement in relation to your listening position. Hopefully, if you can get it sounding better to the point your wife agrees, maybe she won't hassle you too much about the speakers being too obtrusive.

Jetson, I have a Brick Wall conditioner (which I no longer use in my main system)... I think it works fine with low-level components (CD players, preamps, etc.) but not so well with power amps (and hence, perhaps not so well with your integrated amp). You might try using the Brick Wall only with your CDP and tuner, and listen to whether the bass is stronger than before. In any case, if you haven't already done so, you might add a hospital-grade outlet (e.g., Hubbell) to your dedicated line. (And kudos for having a dedicated line!)

Zaikes is correct. I could be assuming the worst, and as we all know, assuming is bad. I use an Anthem Amp2, and do find it to sound more open without a LC. I think a listening test is in order. What I do is keep my favorite cds in and listen as much as possible for a week, make my change, then listen again for a week. I can usually pick up on changes right away, but find it takes time to interpret weather or not the changes are for the better or worse. I recently purchased a Monster AVS2000 and find things to be sharper when running through it. But hey, that's just my gear!!!

Good luck Jetson. Let us know what you find.

Jetson, IMO, you have chosen your audio gear with a budget and an excellent ear. The only thing I have not heard is your speakers. I can't help but think they must also be very good by the rest of your gear. I could improve on your system like others who think you need to spend $1000s more than you are probably not willing to do at this time. I am not a big fan of surge protectors, line conditioners, and so on. That has only been my experience. Gunbei has given you as much help as one can give. If you have a few extra $$$ to spend, I'm sure there is room for improvement. IMO, you have done a great job putting together a very musical system. If a few $$ comes your way, try some isolation devices. You may be surprized what improvement they can bring. Best to you in search for the love of music you are looking for.