Hello bcool57. For the money, and if you are handy, the Akitika Preamp is very good. (it is abitious for beginners.) Find an outfit that will let you try out cables: Used Cables.com is one. You can make excellent cables if you can build that kit. It's easy and inexpensive. It might not have an attractive woven nylon cover, but who knows whats under those covers? Your homemade cables might not have gold plated, highly polished connectors (unless you ant to pay for them), but if they sound great, who cares? Try using that leftover TV cable the installer left behind. /think about what kind of frequency response that cable has to have! Contact me for cable making ideas, speaker and interconnects. If the music isn't making it thru your present cables, you won't know how good your components are. The gear you have is good stuff, be sure you can hear it sing. A $50 Chinese 10 gauge, five foot, sheilded power cable from Amazom is worth a try. If that improves things, enjoy it and upgrade later, perhaps. And think just how proud you will be when your efforts give you big rewards! Enjoy!
Amp Preamp Advice
I am fairly new to the forum and perhaps someone has already had this discussion. If so, please forgive me.
I currently have a Parasound Halo A23 amp, Parasound New Classic 2100 preamp, Marantz 8006 CD player which can also be used for streaming, and Focal Aria 926 speakers. Overall, the system sounds pretty good. But are we ever really completely satisfied with the sound? I have been considering various options to improve the sound quality-more depth and clarity, bigger soundstage, etc. and wanted to see if I could get some advice before I make another purchase. Here are some of the options that I have considered:
1) Upgrade to a Parasound A21 amp which will increase the watts from 125 to 250 and the amperage from 45 to 60. If I go with this option, I will eventually upgrade the preamp, probably to a Parasound P6.
2) Upgrade the preamp to either a Parasound P6 when some are back in stock or to a Musical Fidelity or NAD C165BEE now. I would keep my current amp at least for now.
3) Gift my current amp and preamp to my son to start his first "real" stereo system and purchase an integrated amp which would replace both my amp and preamp at the same time. I know that there is a whole conversation to be had about which are better separates or integrated. But the integrated amps that I am considering are the Parasound Hint 6, the Musical Fidelity M5si and the Musical Fidelity M6si. In a way, I feel that the first two might be lateral moves from where I currently am although they would increase my wattage slightly and probably give me a better DAC than I currently have. The last one is probably more than I wanted to pay for an integrated at the moment, but I might could swing down the road.
What do the people say who probably know infinitely more about building a good sound system than I do? Or should I go with my last option and just be content with what I have? Thank you for your responses.
I currently have a Parasound Halo A23 amp, Parasound New Classic 2100 preamp, Marantz 8006 CD player which can also be used for streaming, and Focal Aria 926 speakers. Overall, the system sounds pretty good. But are we ever really completely satisfied with the sound? I have been considering various options to improve the sound quality-more depth and clarity, bigger soundstage, etc. and wanted to see if I could get some advice before I make another purchase. Here are some of the options that I have considered:
1) Upgrade to a Parasound A21 amp which will increase the watts from 125 to 250 and the amperage from 45 to 60. If I go with this option, I will eventually upgrade the preamp, probably to a Parasound P6.
2) Upgrade the preamp to either a Parasound P6 when some are back in stock or to a Musical Fidelity or NAD C165BEE now. I would keep my current amp at least for now.
3) Gift my current amp and preamp to my son to start his first "real" stereo system and purchase an integrated amp which would replace both my amp and preamp at the same time. I know that there is a whole conversation to be had about which are better separates or integrated. But the integrated amps that I am considering are the Parasound Hint 6, the Musical Fidelity M5si and the Musical Fidelity M6si. In a way, I feel that the first two might be lateral moves from where I currently am although they would increase my wattage slightly and probably give me a better DAC than I currently have. The last one is probably more than I wanted to pay for an integrated at the moment, but I might could swing down the road.
What do the people say who probably know infinitely more about building a good sound system than I do? Or should I go with my last option and just be content with what I have? Thank you for your responses.