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upgrade advice for budget-minded beginner

I was looking for some advice on possible upgrade paths. I'm new to this A'gon community and want to get the most out of my "investments" since I'm a college student with limited funds. Currently, I have B&W 602s with an old Denon DCD1000, Yamaha M-60, and a Kenwood pre that needs to go. My noise floor is just awful, the highs are very forward and bright, and alot of music sounds lifeless and overtly digital.
I was considering the Onix reference 1/SP3/XCD88 combo for $1500, but wasn't sure if the Ref1's would be a huge step up from my 602s thus justifying the purchase. Also, I've never heard a tube amp, and although the characteristic naturalness and soundstage abilities seem to be what I'm looking for the supposed lack of woofer control and low wattage make me a bit nervous.
Another option I was toying with was keeping the Yamaha M-60 and adding an Eastern Electric Minimax preamp and possibly CDP to my setup hoping to take the edge off the highs, open up my soundstage, and eliminate background noise.
Basically, I was wondering what people that have more experience with this hobby think would yield the most "bang for the buck" in my situation. I want a deep and broad soundstage, natural sounding mids, musical highs, and authoritative bass but don't want to spend an arm and a leg to get it (like everyone else, I'm sure!). I'd appreciate any input, and am sorry about the length of the post.
ethanh
sufentanil's avatar
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sufentanil
782 posts
 
I second the Music Hall CD25. It's an excellent CD player for the money.

I also agree with going for an integrated amp. I would recommend one of the Jolida's, especially the Jolida 302b (tube integrated, my favorite of Jolida's line). You would have a killer system with the Jolida and a Music Hall cd player. This integrated will also tame some of the brightness you've been experiencing, while also taking care of the lifelessness.

Good luck!

Michael
william7
53 posts
 
The Eastern Electric M520 integrated just made the cover of Hi-Fi World UK.
http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/currentish.html

A glowing review.
matrix
305 posts
 
definatly go as far as possible with the CD upgrade.
ewha
80 posts
 
ethan--

i believe the onix cd player you are considering is mechanically the same as the music hall cd-25. i can tell you from my own experience that the gear put out by onix is really excellent. if you are concerned about budget, the onix solid state integrateds are also excellent bargains. you can get a b-stock a60 for $299 at av123.com. the a60 is as good as or better than alot of the more popular "budget" integrateds out there (audio refinement, nad, etc.). i also second the recommendations for jolida integrateds... very good sound, and excellent resale should you want to upgrade or change in the future.

if av123.com has an in home trial available, i would go for the package. i've read nothing but good things about each of those components, and my experiences with onix equipment has been resoundingly positive.
etran
67 posts
 
Well, Ethanh had the Onix xcd-88 in mind then why pay $240 more for the Music Hall CD-25, same unit. If you want to tame the brightness the Onix or Music Hall wouldnot help without mod. The Rega players in this case would be better choice. I agree with the Jolida upgrade path. Happy listening.
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