Lost - Your combined experience required

Loose,

Yeah, it sounds like the Rotel may not be the culprit here.

You did mention that this particular room sounds a bit dead, so that may be one reason this system lacks life.

That said, my listening room is packed with stuff and is by no means a hot or lively sounding room, but I managed to get a lively sounding system with a good sense of scale without it being bright.

A lot of this had to do with cabling, especially the one I ran from transport to DAC. Unlike most people here I view cabling as an equal component. Just as skin is considered an organ.

I used to be a "wire is wire" guy until I heard Gregg Straley's Reality speaker cables. They openend up the sound and brought out clarity and dimensionality unheard until then. These are special cables that sound to me like what you may need. They are not expensive and can be returned for full refund, less shipping which is not much, if you don't like them. I would seriously try these speaker cables. Nearly zero risk.

Loose,

Instead of buying cables, amp and new speakers - try listening to a pair of audioengine 5's - you may be surprised - for a small space they are well suited.

Loose, have you ever heard your speakers sounds unveiled and more to your liking? I mean with other gear or in another system? Thta is, have you been able to determine that the speakers can perform to your liking? Maybe bringing them to a friends house - if that is possible? I start there, because it seems to me that satisfying systems have to start by finding a speaker that satisfies you and then getting the right amp to drive it within the context of the room they will play in and the power/impedance match between the amp and speaker. Every compponent is important, so I'm not saying the source and cabling is "secondary" in that sense, but I think the starting place has to be the speaker of your choice, then the amp to drive it, and OFCOURSE, the room/speaker interface. If you have heard your speakers sound wonderful to you then you know you have a good starting point to focus on upgrading the other components. The Unico had tubes didn't it?

Hi guys!

PHil, you're right - my head's SPINNING now! ...and I thought i was confused before!

Knownothing - thank you for your suggestions regarding component isolation. I have tried a wide variety of tweaks in this regard. I currently have my amp and cd player sitting on squash balls cut in half (works well, shock and surprise!). I also have weight on top of the cd player to minimize vibration as much as possible. These tweaks definitely sharpen up the sound to some degree. I'll try a few more for fun.

Thanks for the info on the Cambridge. I like what i've read about the 840c, but it's out of my price league for sure at this time. I'll have a look at the 640c and do some reading when i get home from work later.

Rockadanny - trust me - i don't believe that 'wire is wire' and I'll have a look at Gregg's cables too.

Shadorne - never heard of Audio Engine 5's, but again, i'll read up on them tonight.

Pubul57 - You have a really great point here; No, i have never heard these speakers in a different context, save for when i purchased them used. The gentleman from whom i bought them demoed them briefly with a mira, but used a dvd music video as an audio sourse. Therefore, the sound was quite a bit better than standard CD.

I wish i had audiophile friends... I don't really know anyone with good gear. All of my friends are 'boom- tizz' kind of listeners, only impressed with initial flash and not even taking the time to appreciate finer sound.

I've never understood this, because I've been into audio since i was a kid and realized very early on that the difference between an 'ok' sounding system and a great sounding one can bring soooo much enjoyment, peace and serve as an escape...but only when the music is natural and effortless. Music heals my soul, so i want it to be as good as it can get within my meagre budget.

I really, truly wish i would have kept my Unico (and yes, it had tubes in the preamp stage). It really was (is) a great piece. To me, at a local audio store, it handily bettered a CYRUS 8 int amp and a Nait 5i for sheer musicality and realism. I really appreciated it when I took home several other amps at the time for comparison (Kandy III, Caspian, Classe CAP151 and a couple of others).

The Unico outclassed them all with its oh so smooth layering, dynamics, extension, sweetness, width, depth and overall tasty goodness. Everything else seemed far less refined, by comparison.

(sorry...didn't mean to re-live old glory days when I had cash for good gear).