everything sounded great until the upgrade

...played Enya at his funeral....

I was surprised, and amused.

The 'not so merry' go'round.....'Rulley....

Chasing SOTA reminds of desire for the woman that's out of your league...

If you do happen to connect, it's a dice toss whether the relationship has legs, mostly yours. *L*

I had an older prick bro' that infected me with audiodementia.....then fell out of it.
Still was running an ancient H-K integrated last I saw in his living room, don't suspect he was aware of 'tube rolling' other than perhaps replacements for blown ones...

@cd318 I don't like the Tannoy looks, but it's actually good because I couldn't afford them anyway.

@bigmac1963 Sweet Special Forties :) I love those 

I own musical fidelity m6si amplifier it’s paired with dynaudio special forty’s it sounds great.Give it time for the amplifier to break in.

@audioguy85

Just do class A with some Tannoys and get off merry go round.

Good advice but you know what we audiophiles are like.

Only sheer exhaustion after many futile years of trying in vain can finally convince us.

I’ve not upgraded my speakers for over 10 years but not for want of trying.

Damn, those Tannoys are hard to beat!

@scowler1 thank you :)

grislybutter, your “little prick brother” beat me to the point I wanted to make. Since you say the phono sounds good and CD sound is poor, I was sure your issue is in the digital signal path. A separate DAC, imho, can eliminate the discrepancy assuming the CD player has an acceptable transport, digital out, and decent interconnects and power cords are in use. How much better depends in large part on budget. You seem to already have discovered an easy improvement by using a different input…good move and good luck.

my little prick brother got back to me, he is just probably reading the forum,

He says:

• CD input is likely crap, and next to phono which is suspect, try any other input
• get a DAC (a$$hole!) but maybe I will get away with
• a decent RCA cable https://tinyurl.com/fzj48ccn

Update: CD input IS crap, aux1 is times better

overall feedback processing notes: just like with anything: learning a little reveals how little I knew and how much I thought I knew! Some of the advices are scary, I should not remove the cover and tweak this thing, that never ended well for me. (As a kid I took apart a lot of alarm clocks, none I was able to put back together, (I am a theoretical guy)

@decooney absolutely! You know me by now. My current RCA is crap, something that came 15 years ago with a $20 cd player. I ordered a cable from Amazon last night for $35, I was too embarrassed to ask here. May suck but will still be better than these.

@asvjerry I started it, @dadork is the second in line to be visited by the FBI with a warrant.in case of an incident

@mofojo first time I heard pink noise :)

@clearthinker right! It’s used, no returns, brother’s advice that I always trust. Little prick.... he got me!

@grislybutter now with your more revealing amplifier in play, and sources in review by you, one other thought will drive some silly. I will ask anyhow. Its likely I missed it, and apologize if so...  What interconnect RCA cables are you using now (brand/model/length) between your phono or CD player to your A3.2 integrated today?

...and 'offing the wife' seems a bit extreme, dadork....

Just sayin'....;)

You never stated the name of the new amp, the old amp and your system.

Not sure if this has been mentioned but is it a possibility some caps or something else is worn in the 3.2? Pretty old piece. Play some pink noise and see if both channels sound the same. 
 

I thought especially older MF were known as being pretty easy to listen to. Love my A1008 which is 2009ish I believe. 

Another vote for a separate DAC. Wife killings only last a few days, good audio is forever! It seems complicated at first to find something that you think will be the right fit. If you live in the sticks like I do it's even more difficult. Decide your source(s), Learn about sampling rates. If you think you will be happy with CD quality, 44.1 and that's as far as you want to go then you only need to find a DAC that can perform that operation well. No need for DSD capabilities if you'll never use DSD. If you think you'll want to stream hi-res at some point then get something that can do that. Start looking at used gear sites such as Audiogon and US AudioMart to see what's up for grabs in your budget. Read as many reviews on each item as possible to get a flavor. Spend as much as you can reasonably afford.

One basic item that would have an impact and provide the sound you describe. Make sure that you observe correct polarity on both speakers, + to + and - to - It is an easy mistake to make sometimes. Double check.

Just do class A with some Tannoys and get off merry go round.

@grislybutter    Why didn't you try the amp in your system before laying down your bread?

It's incredible how many people here buy upgrades without listening to them.  It's little use listening at the dealer in his system unless he can replicate yours or you take your kit in and set it up.  Even then the rooms are different.

No dealer of any worth will refuse to lend equipment to loyal customers.

The caps are dry there are sitting in jamicon caps, Chinese grap.

Take them out and put mundorf i did it last month and you dont know whats happend.

For shure that it is the problem the caps are super dry if you shake the amp maybe you can hear it.

Here in Asheville, it's like getting 2 birds stoned at once. ;)

One thing to double check when switching out gear is to make sure everything is in phase. I know that’s pretty basic like, “is it plugged in” but that’s the starting point. Make sure your connections didn’t get crossed.

@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*

@cat_doorman what did you upgrade to?

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

Here, chill...

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

Was great live....*G*

@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. ;)

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).

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

@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 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".

@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

@decooney CD then turntable 10:1 

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

@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 -

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 

@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. 

@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

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.  

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? 👌🏼

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.  

@danager 

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

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

@decooney

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

@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.

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..."

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 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. 

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

for breakin