There's an instructive, current thread concerning soundstage that might be useful here. Has your friend experimented with moving the speakers around in the room?
I don't think that the Pioneer CD player is necessarily the problem, unless it is beginning to show its age and not work well after 15 years. I owned one of these players years ago and it was a fine player and is definitely keeping with the level of the rest of your friend's system.
Even when this system was brand new, the SONY receiver was the limiting component. It is your basic SONY HT receiver, fine for what it is, but music is not its strong suit.
My question about the PSB speakers would be ... what shape are the woofer surrounds in?
I don't mean to spend your friend's money or come across as snooty, but it just sounds like it may be time to replace the system. You can do it piecemeal, but the whole system really needs to go. I went through this two years ago with a good friend and she resisted like heck, but in the end she spent about $700 on TEAC 500 series mini separates (receiver and dvd player) and NHT speakers. The new system sounds great, she's happy, and she felt that she got her money's worth. This may be the situation here.
Regards, Rich
I don't think that the Pioneer CD player is necessarily the problem, unless it is beginning to show its age and not work well after 15 years. I owned one of these players years ago and it was a fine player and is definitely keeping with the level of the rest of your friend's system.
Even when this system was brand new, the SONY receiver was the limiting component. It is your basic SONY HT receiver, fine for what it is, but music is not its strong suit.
My question about the PSB speakers would be ... what shape are the woofer surrounds in?
I don't mean to spend your friend's money or come across as snooty, but it just sounds like it may be time to replace the system. You can do it piecemeal, but the whole system really needs to go. I went through this two years ago with a good friend and she resisted like heck, but in the end she spent about $700 on TEAC 500 series mini separates (receiver and dvd player) and NHT speakers. The new system sounds great, she's happy, and she felt that she got her money's worth. This may be the situation here.
Regards, Rich