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What's the weakest link in my stereo set up? I live in a townhome, so limited on space.

90% of my time is used listening to records. The other 10% is used by my wife and I to just stream TIDAL or Spotify.

I live in a three story townhome. High ceilings. Not wide rooms, but long.

I would love to be able to use a room just for the stereo, but I cannot. I like staying married, which also means I cannot turn our guest bedroom into just a music-listening adventure room. So, the stereo is in my living room on the first floor. This also means I don’t have room for floor standing speakers.

Focal 906 bookshelf speakers

Technics SL-1210 Mk II (modded out by KAB USA)

Currently using a Nagaoka MP-150 cartridge

McIntosh MP100 phono amp

Cambridge EVO 150 stereo amplifier, entertainment hub, streamer, etc (my wife uses this a lot to stream Spotify while going about the house)

Topping A70Pro headphone amplifier

 

I’m going to assume people are going to say either my turntable or my speakers. Would it be wise to upgrade my Technics to one of the higher end models? I really love the ease of using this little beast of a player. I know it’s known as "the DJ turntable", but it wasn’t made to be one -- it just became that.

The Focals are nice too, and they were also bought new for less than a grand.

(Also, sorry if this is subjective as a question. I’m new to a lot of this. I hope something stands out as an obvious room to upgrade no matter what your tastes are.

Also, I’ve been selling some of the equipment that my late father had, and while doing so I’ve been getting interested in upgrading the system I cobbled together years ago. And no, for emotional and attachment reasons, I didn’t want to keep things that he owned.)

Budget ~$2K

128x128vrikkian
dynacohum
661 posts
 

I would do the stylus, but also explore improving your speakers. Focal 906 have a nice tweeter, but my experience with them leaves me wanting more defined midrange and bass extension. There are better options with similar cabinet size. 
 

vrikkian's avatar
vrikkian OP
8 posts
 

About subs, I’ve never looked into it because, as noted, space is a major factor.  I cannot simply put the sub in front of the cabinet since that’s walking space.

 

Putting a sub into an empty cabinet space is a hard pass too, right? My cabinet is both open on the front and back, so heat is not an issue. I’ve had my phono and stereo amp on one of my cabinet’s shelves for years now and have no issues at all.

wfowenmd
94 posts
 

I’m now retired and downsized to a three story townhouse after decades of audiophilia. My guidance is to sound treat your listening space(s) to mitigate spot-specific variances. What ever equipment you upgrade to, it will sound better in a sonically optimized room.  

wfowenmd
94 posts
 

I’m now retired and downsized to a three story townhouse after decades of audiophilia. My guidance is to sound treat your listening space(s) to mitigate spot-specific variances. What ever equipment you upgrade to, it will sound better in a sonically optimized room.  

pureclarity
77 posts
 

Seems like you have many sound reflections. High ceilings and hardwood floors. You should do a clap test to see how bad your room echoes. Then start treating room accordingly. You may need to deaden a few areas since sound is reflected 20 ft up? So walls and floors may need absorption; area carpet, heavy drapes, etc. if you have windows that’s another hard reflection. Read up on sound absorbers and reflectors.
That could be a start to improving sound without buying equipment yet. 

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