Advice on Equipment Upgrade


I need some help on what is making my system sound a little dull in the midbass snares toms ect. My system is in a 10.5 x 12 ft room open on the long end. I have Dynaudio Contour 3.0's with a REL B2 sub connected to a McIntosh MC352 solid state amp using a Prima Luna ProLogue Three Tube Preamp. My Source is now a Upgraded REGA P3/24 with a Nagaoka MP200 Cartridge MM. I'm using a Tiny Riaa Phono Input that was incuded on the Prima Luna. My Cables are Nordost SPM skr wire and a upgraded cable for the REL by Signal Cable. And 1 unbalanced 1 meter cable from Morrow audio (MA-3). SO my question is Where are the Drums ??? Do I need a Dynavetor cartridge? Is the Primaluna phono the culpret? Should I invest in a quality Phono Preamp and get a low output MC cartridge? I just want my kick back in my system Its too Warm. Note: I was listing to Digital but I really like the Vinyl sound better for the Jazz and Classic rock.I know these speakers and they can sound much better and its not my amp.Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Matt
128x128mattmiller
Hey I see a lot is made of the room size. To clarify, the room is off a tiled entry way so the space is really larger. The room is small but opens up right away to a total size of 14'wide x 16' deep. Still not a great scenario I know.Also, The matter of the preamp out (2800) into the Mac Amp (unbal-20,000) is a concern.(more on that in a few days)I have a 4.0mv MM cart. I listen to Classic Rock and 50's 60's jazz. Music that is Simple sounds Awesome!Bass is deep and tight in the lower octaves(below 30hz).Very articulate and smooth ,velvet vocals,Sax,with very real sounding cymbals bells ect..BUT when I put on something with Balls like Billy Cobham -Spectrum Atlantic SD7268, it dosen't have that EDGE or driving Attack of the percussion that i have heard from this record. Do I really have to talk about Digital? Ok....I had this very system hooked up with a Mc201 and a Nordost Valkyrja Bal IC Directly to the MC352. WOW! is all I can say. The sound is Celing to the floor in dynamic range and Quick like lightning, Sure the 201 isnt the best sounding CD player.Compromise,compromise,but having control of the volume without a preamp added some real grunt into the system I had not heard while using a preamp,On Talking Heads Speaking in Tongues-Burning down the house sounds like my speakers are playing Instruments! Instead of boxes playing beautiful music.A lot of Impact and dynamics, very synergistic.Thanks to my brother I'm going to bring in a expensive McIntosh Tube Preamp with Tube Phono stage and do some listening over the weekend, I'll post again soon.


Everyone should be able to click on the SYSTEM button next to my name in this thread to see Pictures!! let me know if you can't.
Definitely worth your time to try the Mac preamp. Hopefully you're talking about a newer one, as it would be a perfect match for the 352. Also, here's some additional info I found. Prima Luna power amps have an input impedance of 100k, which results in a ratio of 35.7 with their preamps. Your MCD 201 directly to the 352 results in a ratio of 33.3. The Prima Luna preamp to the 352 ratio is 7.1.

The combination I had in the past was a tube preamp at 5k output hooked to a solid state amp with a 25k input, just no dynamics and dull, and this amp sounded great with a different preamp, very dynamic. Then I changed to an amp with a 100k input for the tube preamp, and even with less power, but sounded so much better, finally came alive.
Wow that puts it into perspective..no wonder i'm scratching my head ..I was worried that the preamp was not a good match.So any Ideas? I could sell the Primaluna but for what replacement? I dont want to spend $3000-4500 on a McIntosh. Any Ideas for Under 2,000? I want tubes and dont care about remote.I just want it to mate with the Mac amp better.
http://app.audiogon.com/listings?filter_category_id%5B%5D=31&items_per_page=50&listing_types_auctions=true&listing_types_classifieds=true&location_filter_radius=25&max_condition=11&min_condition=1&order_by=created_at+DESC&price_range=0&show_media=false