everything sounded great until the upgrade


In short: I loved the sound of my modest system, until I upgraded my amp. Now it  sounds pretty horrible. It went from a warm sweet embracing easy-to-listen sound to knives and forks trying to escape from a bathtub.

So...

1. I can just unplug this new amp (used) and sell it

Any other options? I could upgrade my speakers but I have no budget for that.

2. I could sell the speakers and use money to buy used ones that go with the amp. 

3. Lastly I could change the source, but was it the culprit - to begin with?

btw - the sound of the "new" amp is decent with my turntable, and terrible with my CD player.

(If I wrote brands and models it would throw the discussion into "A sucks, B is great")

grislybutter

Showing 3 responses by rar1

@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 

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