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Lost - Your combined experience required

Over the past while, off and on, i've been thinking about upgrading my gear, wanting more open, airy and extended sound. I want to lose the slight veil currently existing in my setup that just takes away from the believability of the presentation. I'd like more dimension as well.

I've made threads about possible amp upgrades, speakers, source...all separate threads (over a period of time). But i've never made a thread asking your opinions on what you feel the weak link actually IS, in my case.

Gear:
CD - Rotel RCD 971/ Sony PS1 model 1001 (on its way)
Sugden a48b w/ upgrades including point to point wiring
Rega Ara speakers
Target sand filled metal stands
cheapo monster cable (i also have some ecosse cable, but that makes the system sound very flat, albeit somewhat more extended in the higher frequencies).

Room is small, one bedroom condo living room, open to kitchen. Living room area is approx 14 x 10 or so (maybe a bit longer)

The system is on the better-sounding long wall of the room (not the dividing wall). I have fussed around w/ speaker placement to no end, finding strengths and compromises in a variety of positions, but with no fully satisfying results.

I came to a quick conclusion that my speakers are the weak link here, but now i'm not so sure. After reading about the Ara's and how others describe them, it sounds like I may be wrong.

On a hunch, i started reading up more on that particular sugden model and I've come to realize that it's generally not considered the most transparent in the world. It IS a good amp, mind you - quality performance. But perhaps just a little too antiquated for the sound i'm looking for.

I'm not too concerned about the source at the moment, since I'll soon have two players to swap in and out.

But I'm really lost in terms of whether i should swap speakers or amp (or both!). I'm on a budget and I don't really want to fuss around and risk poor matching etc etc...

With all your combined experience, I'm bound to glean some sort of insight from some of you. Hopefully. Thoughts? Please? ha
loose
Post removed 
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Two things jump out at me looking at your equipment list. The Rotel and Monster.

I think you really need to upgrade your cabling to give your equipment the chance to shine. But that being said, all the Rotel CD players I've heard sounded veiled and any cabling changes might not be as noticeable with the Rotel at the front of the chain.

Still, for your system I would address cabling first. Dumping the Monster Cable would be akin to having a good colon cleanse. And I think the Cable Co. suggestion is a great place to start.
loose OP
239 posts
 
Gunbei -

The Rotel is not particularly veiled, I'm certain of that. I used it directly with a Unico and Neat Mystiques in another room and it was just fine (better with the link dac III, but on its own, i had no complaints). I will also have a PS1 on hand (the one reviewers rave about), so I'm not ready to point the finger at the source at the moment. Again, this is primarily because the Rotel worked with the Unico / Neat combo.

Having said that, I may try to coax my friendly, neighbourhood, audio store to lend me a decent unit of some sort. I'm thinking a naim cd5i2, a cyrus 6se or 8se or a cambridge 740 or 840. At least I'd get a good comparison there. (I wonder if a 640c would work for me? does it approach the 740 or 840, even?)

The monster cables, although better-sounding than the ecosse in this particular case, i agree, will need to be removed from the equation.

With respect to those who mention cable changes- once again, i agree that cables make a difference, but I'm looking for an altogether change - a drastic sort of change in sound.
Acknowledging that cables make a difference, I'm looking to alter the current 'house sound' i'm getting from my existing combination of components.

There is much to be said for system synergy, for sure, and a lot of people on here tout certain brands work very well together: naim amp and cd, cyrus products, rega products..

I wonder, then, if a rega brio or mira would open the aras up?

Conversely, if the aras are inherently warm-sounding (which i don't really know, since i've only paired them with my sugden and my nad 3020a, both of which are warm, maybe the overall 'colour' is just too dark. Therefore, a livelier, brighter speaker with a slightly wider frequency range would get me at least more in the realm of where I want to be sonically-speaking. ...Maybe? ...possibly? ...Hopefully?

Do i have a bald spot on my head yet?
avrij's avatar
avrij
70 posts
 
get yourself a sub to borrow and see if that fills out your sound, try using the speaker connections and free your speakers up a little from carrying the low end. even ina small room, maybe a 10 inch driver, would give you a sound you do not have. .
loose OP
239 posts
 
I have installed an energy esw v8 into the system (which i don't normally use for two channel audio). I have it dialed in perfectly to round out the bottom.

No doubt, it adds some dimension to the music; it, however, doesn't solve my problem of 'lack of air'.

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