Can’t believe anyone

X,

Based on what I've read above, there is some sound advise here. You mention that you want to upgrade your system. What aspect of it are you currently unhappy with? Perhaps that would narrow it down a bit.....

In my experience, the amplifier makes the biggest change. Add lots of high quality power, and your system will come alive....not from a loudness perspective but rather like having veils lifted from the speakers....the will grab your attention even at low power...

As also mentioned above, room placement is critical. Experiment with this if you can; you can change the character of your whole system this way....

Finally, I also strongly agree with the post above regarding take home demos. If your current dealers won't allow this, find new ones that do. The only way to get an accurate idea of how a piece is going to sound is to try it in your system.....

Finally, keep an eye on your interconnects and cables. Again, try different combos from your dealer on loan. Often, the tweaky cables actually harm system performance rather than enhance it. Folks seem allow the cost of these items to color their perception of what they are hearing. Keep the capacitance low.....

Remember, this should be fun!!!!

Good Luck!

I have heard the Arcam cd players. My experience is that the 7SE is better than the 8, and pretty close to the 9. I don't beleive that upgrade would solve your problems.

Hi Xmore,
there's a really cool dealer off Lincoln Avenue. It's called Audio Image. give him a call at 773-334-2400.

Does your integrated have preouts? If it does, my first choice would be to get a separate and better quality power amp for your system, the Dynaudios are inefficient and can use the juice. Something like a McCormack DNA series amp, or one of the new Bel Canto Evos would be a couple of nice choices that aren't terribly expensive. You could then upgrade to a nice separate tube preamp later on as funds permit. I would also think some better speaker cables would be worth a try, as I am not at all a fan of MIT.

Due to their use of HEAVY quantities of parts in the crossover circuit, Dynaudio speakers are BIGTIME power suckers. Even with their small speakers you will need a pretty reasonably sized amp for best performance. I would look for something that does well at either 8 or 4 ohms with a reasonable amount of dynamic headroom. If the amp does not go up by double or almost double at 4 ohms as compared to what it was rated at 8 ohms, i would NOT consider it for your specific system. Even though the Dynaudio's are designed to be a relatively stable load, they are not an "easy" load in the fact that they take quite a bit of muscle to play at high volumes with any type of "liquidity" or "lucidness". Using a relatively small amp will require you to push it, reducing its' musicality and "liquidity" even further while introducing a "veil" or slight "haze" to the music. Increasing the power available to these specific speakers in a quality fashion should get you the the dynamics and openness that your looking for. Sean
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