Weak Link

as welll as the speakers, could be some problem in the room itself that needs correction this does make quite a difference! You might also consider that and where your speaker placement is and on & on...

it's time for you to try tube amplification.

Loose,

I don't think the Ara's can give you what you want. I also feel the Rotel Cd player is thin and edgy. For $1,500 bucks, you may be able to upgrade both. May I suggest B&W 685 speakers ($600 - I have a pair and they're wonderful for the money, and sure to blow away the Aras). With the $900 bucks left over, I would of course try the Rotel with those speakers, but you can either get a used Benchmark Dac to go with the Rotel, or by a nice, used CD player here on 'gon. I do feel you have much room for somewhat painless upgrading. Enjoy the ride. It is fun.

I picked up a nice CD971 locally on Craigslist and I thought it was great, with the blackgates and HDCD decoding. Nice black background, smooth transport, and quickly reads discs. 20 bit burr browns are nice. But it seemed flat, with the cymbals decaying too quickly. I went to a Kimber Silver streak for ICs and it made a big difference. But then I said, what the heck, let's go for broke. I bought a barely used BelCanto CD1 here a couple weeks ago and man, what a difference in resolution, detail, bass definition, overall cohesion of soundstage, you name it. Such a smooth, close to analog sound. You can tell when you are listening to a well recorded CD for sure. 24 bits and complete balanced outputs and discrete analog outputs vs. 20 bits, op amps, and older technology in the Rotel? Close but no cigar. I still have both hooked up and even my wife could tell the difference. Nuff said. She has no idea what I do with this hobby but she does enjoy the music. The rotel does not have near the cohesion or musicality. Bass is good but artificial. But it can be a lot of other factors. I was one who always thought the source wasn't as big a deal as amp or speakers but it does make a big difference. Cables do too. the system is what matters--the synergy. Good luck and have fun trying some different stuff.

Almarg, I suspect you're mostly correct in that i simply need more capable speakers.

I may try to find a used pair of GR10's or even GS10s, if possible without breaking the bank. I wonder if Epos M12.2's would get me there, at less of a cost... Perhaps i'll hold off on getting a new source just yet.

Cerrot, I second your thoughts on the ARAs. Despite it being a decent, litte speaker, it is nothing to write home about. I am not a fan of B&W, however, but I appreciate the suggestion (perhaps i should give B&W another chance, however in the past, every time i've done so, i've been disappointed. Further, I used to own an MSB Link DAC III w/ half nelson upgrade and upsampling board (which i never used because it just smoothed things out too much). Trouble was, the DAC was soooo problematic that after i had it fixed for the third time within a year and a bit, i sold it.

To both swanny and cerrot, I agree with both of your comments on the sound of the Rotel. It's ok, but is just lacking life, somehow. I do not,however, want to go w/ the transport/ DAC route any longer- i'd simply prefer a good, one-box solution.

Finally, yes, the room is definitely part of the problem. My old system, consisting of a Unico, rotel w/ aformentioned DAC and Neat Mystiques was phenomenal at my old condo, but in this new place, it became very soft and mushy sounding w/ bloated bass. 180 degree difference from how it sounded at the other condo, where everything was very clear, clean, defined and the sound just 'floated' so nicely. I didn't appreciate the sound I had at that time, as, in hindsight, i was being too picky, but I long to get back to that type of smooth, clean, yet detailed and airy presentation.

Having said that, I have taken many steps to get the best placement possible and I believe I have done the best that I can, given the small size of the condo, the equipment being 'lesser' than my old gear and a variety of other factors.

I think i'm going to look into better speakers first, then move on to a better CD player a bit later.

Thanks for your suggestions once again, guys.