Advice on Budget System for newbie

Thanks for sharing about the op amp upgrade, Sfar. My brother has my old S100 and the mod will make a nice gift for him.

I agree with you that this particular upgrade is probably the most cost-effective. Another good one for the player is a better power cord, which helps the bass and overall detail quite noticeably. I like the Subaruguru for cords--his kits are a great deal.

And I third the CD-25 (also known as the Shanling CD-S100)! It's the very best player I know for the money.

I think the other guys' recommendations are excellent, if I may say so. The Audio Refinement gear is very good value IMHO. I'm only chiming in to reply to your question: how much do you divide the budget between amp / CDP / cable ?

My personal answer is, spend all you can on the source.

After all, you will be upgrading again, eventually, won't you? Getting the best source you can means you will be happier with it for longer. The next major effort can be on the amp, because you will still enjoy your source. And the quality you have upstream will be revealed when you upgrade downstream.

Compare that approach with the opposite : a downstream upgrade makes you painfully aware of an inadequate source.

If I were in your shoes, I would consider spending the whole pile on a CD-S100 Mk II, and a cable. I have a review of this player here at Audiogon. But then I have access to the Canadian sources for it ; AFAIK it is not available retail in the U.S. :-(

Canadian Shanling distributor's page

CD-S100 / 100 MkII review

Nevertheless, with all that said, moving from your Nak to a CD-25 and an amp like the Audio Refinement will still make you very happy. Tell us about it, when you get your upgrade home, if you get the chance.

You didn't ask me, Maxxc, but I think the rule is pretty much the same for all systems. The difference is that at the high end, you are not going to have to put up with sound that is actually toxic. Even if you upgrade starting downstream, a true high end source should already be pretty easy to take.

Upgrading is so expensive ( cost of new component plus loss on resale of the old component, minus resale value of the old one ) that it makes sense to plan for the best sound possible at every step. Unfortunately that can mean passing on speakers, for example, while you save for a source. It can be hard to do.

I think you will be delighted with your coming source upgrade, and you will be able to hear it at its best. Imagine if you had upgraded your source first, though. Your amp upgrade would have been double fun!

I understand why you would like the 541, I did too. My personal preference is for the CD25, though. I felt it had more energy and liveliness, and I like the upgrade possibilities (power cord, then later the op amps, maybe a clock). However the CD25 can also sound forward, so you need to get a listen, if a more laid-back presentation is what you prefer.