everything sounded great until the upgrade

Not much that folks can comment on without more particulars about your system.

Recommend you do nothing for 2-3 weeks except play your new amp, using both turntable and CD source pathways.  Then evaluate again.

@grislybutter

In short: I loved the sound of my modest system, until I upgraded my amp. Now it sounds pretty horrible.

You often read about members with the same experience.  People were just planning on upgrading one piece of equipment but inevitably the dominos keep falling and half a system ends up being replaced in order to again achieve a sense of system symbiosis.

@jetter I guess I have to "face the music"!

@sandstone Since my options and budget is limited, but above all, my audio knowledge is very limited, I first wanted to get a high level advice. I used to think of myself as a speaker guy (spend 5 times more on speakers than the amp for the best result) and I realize I was wrong.

I am going to research what goes best with Musical Fidelity integrated amps.

Assuming the new amp is not defective or incorrectly setup, it sounds like your new amp is just a mismatch for the rest of your system.

You said you loved the sound of your old system. Can you go back to your old amp? Was the purchase of the new amp in search of something specific or just the attraction of a new toy?

You'll need to decide which is more important to you -- the sound of your music or the gear itself.

Also, you don't mention how long ago you added the newer integrated.  If not that long ago why not give it a month to see if your ears acclimate to the new sound.  You might be surprised and change your mind once you are used to the new presentation.

@jetter

46 hours ago

" once you are used to the new presentation " that's fair but what's wrong with wanting to be wowed the moment I press play?

@mlsstl

I still have the old amp. I bought a new amp because my local vintage audio repair guy has gone mad. And there are not many of them around so mid and long term, I would not have support. My brother (who is the nerd behind my audio decisions) told me to buy it.

I was honestly hoping for a magic boost.

With old amp half the music sounded OK (speaker: Dynaudio Evoke 20s) such as rock, heavily instrumental music, classical, Jazz, the other half: vocal, folk, 70s rock sounds great, It kind of flipped with the new amp. The magic of the vocals is gone

I am going to research what goes best with Musical Fidelity integrated amps.

MF amps sound best with many loudspeakers. I'm going to guess but you had a solid state amp of perhaps not the best quality. I think you just need a little time to acquire the taste for the new amp and maybe a little break-in time? I'm just guessing but nobody dislikes the sound of a well matched MF integrated that I know. So let the cat out of the bag, what MF is it and what was your old amp? 

meow.... I mean new:

used (in great shape visibly) A3.2

old:

2252B 

2252B

OK, this is easy. The top end of the A3.2 is going to be a little softer than the 2252. Give yourself some time to adjust to the new presentation. Also work on your speaker placement. If you can make your room a little brighter with more reflection that will pick up the top end a bit. And just to throw this out there a cable change might help but work with what you have for now. 

@russ69 thanks!

"easy" - everything is easy if you know how to do it!

A different point of view. There is an old review out there comparing the A3.2 to the former MF A300, and reviewers indicated something that reminds me of how a 2252B will sound warmer closer to an MF A300. However there is praise the A3.2 brings to the equation. As others shared here, give it a few weeks, keep listening, give yourself a chance with the A3.2. If you plugged it in cold after sitting a while, let it play 10-14 days. Also comments the A3.2 reveals what you throw at it, hearing more of bad recordings too. Some of the older 2252Bs can be a veiled over sound. Or, the ones I've heard with original transistors still in them that is. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Article/quote: "A3.2 has that sense of harmonic ease, but the A300 is a touch more full than the A3.2. The newer A3.2 integrated has at least as much bass, but seems to control it a bit better. The end result of this is that the A3.2 sounds a bit leaner, but more in charge of the speakers. Throughout the midrange the A3.2 has a leaner tonal balance. Where the A300 is slightly warmer through the mids and can thus sound a touch laid-back, the A3.2 has a more up-front perspective. This isn’t to say that it’s bright or aggressive -- it’s not -- but rather that it’s a bit more incisive".

@decooney 

The reviewer you quote describes the A3.2 as I remember it.  I thought the A3.2 was on the leaner side of the spectrum, not warmer.

No matter how it sounds now, take decooney's good advice and give it a chance to warm up thoroughly before making any decisions, I'm thinking it will really grow on you.

@decooney 

that's pretty accurate. My initial thought was that it's unforgiving, highlights all the errors the 2252b hides/unable to reveal

I can't speak about the A300 but I have two friends with A3.2s, one with Maggie 1.6s and the other with Martin Logan Requests. I spent a lot of time listening and improving those systems. Both were in very good rooms and both sounded very good. I think the A3.2 can play well with some proper set-up. Give it time and good speaker placement. 

If you have changed the balance of your system, you can try to compensate by doing simple things, like experimenting with speaker or listening chair placement, minor acoustic treatment, like putting tapestries on the walls or using an area rug on the floor (things that may not cost much or unduly disrupt your life).  Doing more to compensate, like buying different cables is a gamble because it may not work.  I hope it is something like changing the toe-in of the speakers that will do the trick.

sometimes just getting familiar with the new sound will also change your mind, so be patient and go slow with the changes.

I can understand your not wanting to fully disclose the products involved, but perhaps you can say what were the components that you liked before the change.

I don't have a lot of placement options but I will do my best :)

I don't doubt it's a good amp.

@larryi 

it's all in the comments now, Marantz 2252B --> Musical Fidelity A3.2

Dynaudio Evoke 20

My initial hope was that things would get better not worse, So the improvements you are suggesting (all great ones) are "me working for the amp and not the amp working for me" :) if it makes sense. But I will get up my butt and play with the placement. 

   I   loved the sound of my modest system, until I upgraded my amp. 

It seems you answered your own question - trust your ears and first impressions.

Take it from someone who has gone down the rabbit hole of trying to accommodate the one thing about my system that didn’t sound great to me.  In my case it was a pair of large speakers that many said were great-sounding speakers.  After about 3 years and too much money I finally replaced them - problem solved.  In the end, the simple solution was best.

I once demoed some speakers at someone's home and the CD player was unlistenable.  The highs were just as you described.  Does you CD player have a TOSLink out?  A warmer more analog sounding DAC would make the CDs sound more like the turntable. 

You went from a vintage receiver to a modern integrated that’s quite the sea change. I’d say give it some time maybe a week or two of constant play then throw the Marantz back in the system and see how it compares. You may find it sounds muddy and slow then again you may not. Good luck!

There has been an evolution, among the majority of brands, toward more and more “detailed” sound that means a leaner sound with less upper bass (that bass obscures higher frequency detail).  It seems to be what most buyers want.  If you are in the minority, you have to either look for vintage gear or the brands serving outliers.  I happen to like a warmer sound, which is why I favor low-powered tube gear from certain brands, such as Audio Note and Synthesis, and solid state from the likes of First Watt.

pretty profound advices, thank you all.

I just spent 2 hours playing LPs and I am a lot more appreciative of the sound now. I gotta do something about the CD player. - even the connection is weird, I have to wiggle the cable sometimes to avoid static 

You didnot say what amp, and more importantly how many hours on it.

for breakin 

I own an old Marantz like that. It was my Dads but I am not sure the model at the moment. Anyway old Marantz is super warm and I used it on some bright B&Ws with good results. 
 

I am a musical fidelity fan and have heard them sound great on a pair of wilson Sophia 3… tons of bass slam. But in your situation I personally would sell it. While good no point in buying colored speakes to work around a sound you don’t like. 
 

Anyway nothing new is as warm as old Marantz really. I think some McIntosh amps are similar to Marantz’s house sound ( I own both McIntosh and Marantz). Maybe something like the MA352 would do the trick as it is a touch warm or older Mac amps. The newer ones from the current line are more neutral. 

Your new amplifier has revealed the flaws of your digital components. You need a parallel upgrade. Consider a better outboard DAC if you can use your current player as a stand-alone transport.

I thought you bought it used so it might be the issue of broken in.  Here is a slightly negative review where you might find a tread of hint.  You might want to bypass the preamp section and try a good source feeding thru a good sounding DAC to MF.  Just a 2-cents.

https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/musical-fidelity-a32-integrated-amplifier-6-2003.html  "... I compared the Musical Fidelity 3.2 to a PS Audio IV preamp and Bryston 4B power amp ... At the 60 dB setting, with the preamp in active mode, the Musical Fidelity A3.2 was a little less dynamic, and the bass response was not as tactile. At this level, the difference were very small, and almost indistinguishable, so if I were not in a critical listening and nit-picking mode, I would not have noticed a difference. At the 80 dB setting, the differences were a little more obvious, as the Bryston seemed a little faster on transients and the bass could be felt as well as heard. Whereas, with the Musical Fidelity A3.2, the bass was certainly heard but not felt to the same extent..."

@grislybutter Under the hood, do you see those big donut torroidal transformers on each side?, and the two mosfet output transistors screwed into those heat sinks on each side... A nice dual mono class AB design. Letting those transformers bake and saturate a bit before playing will yield a different result too.

A quick and fun experiment to try one time. Leave your A3.2 integrated powered on for 24hrs straight and then listen again. Only need to try this once, 2-4 hours next time. Then, ratchet back from there until you find the warmup sweet spot for yours. My former dual mono SS torridal mosfet based amps sounded different at 1,2,4,24 hours. On critical listening days I’d let them warm-in for 2-4 hours, minimum of 2. Try it and see if you notice any difference or not. Should smooth out, sound a little softer and a little more musical too. An easy test if you wanna give it a go.

@decooney

Sounds like a harmless experiment, thanks! I will try it :)

I don't have a DAC. My wife will kill me.

@danager 

yes I have TOSlink out. So that's for the DAC? Sorry for my ignorace

I agree with others that have suggested playing it for a couple of weeks to let everything settle in.( Both the amp,and your ears). There is always the possibility that it just isn’t a great match for you.   Sometimes we buy things that don’t work right for our tastes,and that’s when our pride or ego step in,and we demand that it works, Maybe if I replace speakers,cables,source,things will sound better. Music and good sound reproduction is a great pastime. Enjoy it,and don’t stress out about it. Worse case,flip it and try something else.  

Agreeing with what has generally been stated here before, definitely give it more time. May also have been stated before (or you’re already way past this already), but simply pointing speakers past your listening spot or even straight out. Then slowly inching/ incrementally turning them back toward you. Heck, I’ve even noticed speakers actually sounding warmer when pulling them closer together - some how rounding the tone while bringing the image into better focus.

As for a separate dac, so many excellent dacs under 1k. So many under $500 for that matter (especially used). And -of course - they lend their own sound signatures as well. Thinking SMSL on some of their more lush sounding options if you didn’t want to spend too much. But if you could swing a Denafrips Ares II at some point? 👌🏼

Op, a decent DAC does not cost fortunate.  Quarter of the money you spent on the used MF could get you a pretty decent DAC that preserves soundstage width / depth, tonal balance, weighted bass well like Schiit Modius.  You could sell it on  eBay if you decide not to keep it to get good amount of money back.  

@jperry I explained why I didn't name the components (and later I did many times)

thank you @rocray @riccitone @lanx0003 

I have no idea how to find a DAC but I will look it up

@grislybutter

Forgive my overstating the dac thing, but I find this fella with his iiWi channel very informative and helpful. Always reviewing great gear at more accessible budget ranges (I’m right there with you on the compromise dilemma). Here he’s favorably comparing the new SMSL M500 to more expensive dacs:

I’ve seen this one used for as little as $300 on Amazon. 

@ grislybutter -

Hi.  I have been using MF amps & CD players for almost 20 years.  My thoughts fwiw:

I found the MF A3 preferable to the A3.2,  Not by a wide margin.  Both the A3 & A3.2 were both way preferable to the newer M2.  I found that with each new generation of their amps, the MF sound became 'cleaner' though not quite 'etched.'

I would keep the A3.2, it's a good amp.

If you are to swap out your cd player, I would look for a MF 3.2 or CD PRE 24.  There is incredible synergy with MF amps & CD players of the same vintage.  The CD PRE24 would pair well with your A3.2.  You could also use the preamp of the CD PRE 24, as your A3.2 has a pre-out.  It also has a very good DAC.  

The CD PRE 24 is still the star of my main system almost 20 years later.  Absolutely love this piece.  It is used with a Prima Luna PL5 amp & Zu Audio Dirty Weekend floor standers.  I use the 3.2 CD player with a Rogue Audio Sphinx and Golden Ear BRX monitors.

Give it time.  You have a good foundation amp.

Be well, Rich 

@riccitone thank you very educational! I feel a bit less ignorant

@rar1 I am planning to keep it and I am glad so far no one told me to ditch the speakers. I am slightly confused if I should get a DAC or another CD player, options :)

@grislybutter what source do you play from most, phono/turntable, CD, streamer, other?

@decooney CD then turntable 10:1 

@rar1 

local CBS 8PM news:

husband found dead in the suburbs, no motive or suspect have been identified. He was apparently hit by a hard object. Some blood was found on an audio equipment looking item labeled 'CD PRE 24', retrieved from the trash bin

@grislybutter as you learn about DACs, you’ll find a subset of folks in search of DAC units trying to make regular 16-bit CDs sound closer to vinyl. And other camps who are into hi-res, oversampling. Different roads to take. Take your time learning. In your case, learning through members like @rar1 who’ve heard and matched up your A3.2 with specific MF CD players is a good approach if choose to stay with CD only. As others have pointed out, some older CD players can be a gem too.

DAC: For any reason you decide to buy a streamer later on down the road, buying a good DAC would allow you to run a CD player -AND- a streamer through the same DAC, thus benefiting both sources. Many of us here use external DACs. You’ll literally find hundreds of other threads here on A’gon about "which DAC".

@grislybutter - 

hell of a waste of a good player, when a baseball bat or brick could have done the same thing.    

If it helps any, I use a Decware phono preamp with my CD Pre24 and Technics 1210 TT.

Rich 

@rar1  yes, but that's 2 birds with 1 stone :)

Toe in might soften some top end depending on off axis response.
Older CD players can definitely benefit from an external DAC  

I have an MF A300 with a pair of Dynaudio Audience 82 that I bought new and used everyday for about 20 years. I thought it was a great match, but it’s hard to hold off the itch indefinitely. (20 years is pretty good though) I recently upgraded “everything”, but I haven’t been able to make myself sell any old equipment yet. There’s a fantasy of a 2nd system (that I doubt I will ever use).

@grislybutter ....sounds like what my gear sounds like to me after I've been away for an extended period, exposed to all manner of audio trivia....*G*

Hang tough, get through a reasonable break-in, and then decide what and where to go with it.  New equipment can startle with the differences they exhibit.

Remember: Change is a b*tch. ;)

Here, chill...

Here to help, or at least, distract. ;)

Was great live....*G*

@cat_doorman what did you upgrade to?

@asvjerry I am OK with change - it's my ears that aren't :)

@grislybutter , *sigh* Down with that, too.  If it wasn't for my aids, I miss a lot.

Looking at a new pair of headcans, and thankful that eq is a way of life....

Mine, at least. *L*