Need to upgrade but what to get need advice

I use it prob 80% music 20 % movies.

Considering that this is almost full time music listening, and part time movie watching, I would focus entirely on upgrading for music. Assuming music listening is stereo only, options could be,

1) Add a quality stereo preamp with a HT bypass to mate with the B&K amp
2) Sell the B&K and use a quality integrated amp with HT bypass
3) For CD listening, possible upgrade for the Cambridge

Now if your music listening includes all speakers, the above would not apply. So, if you care to provide more info about how you listen to music, strengths and weaknesses of current sound, it would be very helpful for recommendations.

Happy to help and hopefully it won't be confusing. Option 1 in my previous post is just as stated. You add the stereo preamp to your current system. All speakers stay connected just as they are now. Currently the front preouts on the Yamaha are connected to the B&K. To insert the stereo preamp, you would connect Yamaha front preouts to the bypass input on the preamp, and the output of the preamp to the B&K. Then the CD player would connect to an input on the stereo preamp. To play CD's you would only use the stereo preamp, B&K, and front L & R speakers. As I said in the previous post this is stereo only. For movies, you use everything, and select bypass on the stereo preamp, then the system operates just as it does currently. Here is what the back of the stereo preamp would look like,

http://public.jolida.com/models/fusion%20pre-amplifier5.jpg

Questions? Just trying to make sure you understand since you said, "so confusing". Again, assuming this is the direction you want to go, what are all the sources you use for music listening? Do you want new or is used OK? Would you prefer solid state or do you want to try tubes?

Vic, in my previous posts, I was very specific about music listening being stereo, 2 channel only, and Thirsty93 did not respond with an objection. The use of a stereo preamp with HT bypass will completely separate stereo music listening from the rest of the HT system.

I do agree that the positioning of video display and L/R speakers will affect stereo imaging. I have proved this to numerous friends by listening to some music, then cover the display with a blanket to reduce reflections, and listen again. One guy didn't have flexibility to move equipment, so he would cover the TV when he listened to music. Ideally, for 2 channel music listening, the least amount in between the speakers, the better. Thirsty93, I think it would be an advantage to try and get your L/R speakers slightly in front of the equipment between them.

Thirsty93, here is a tube preamp with HT bypass that gets excellent reviews, and within your price range,

Jolida Fusion Tube Preamp

Ironically, the back panel I provided in a previous post is this preamp.

BTW, I am not affiliated with Jolida in any way, but do have a close friend that uses some of their products and loves them. I do trust his ear as he is an excellent pianist, having taught piano in the past and played in the public for different occasions.

Adding the Jolida tube preamp to your system as previously stated should work great.

IMHO, your NHT 2.5i speakers are just not that suitable for a tube amp, although one could work. It would probably need to be at least 100w/ch which could easily exceed your budget.

NHT 2.5i specifications:
Impedance - 6 ohms nominal, 3.6 ohms minimum
Sensitivity - 86db

Tube amps generally work better with speakers where the minimum impedance only drops slightly below the nominal impedance. In addition to the impedance issue, when using a lower wattage tube amp, it would be best for the speaker's sensitivity to be at least 90-92db or higher.

As far as Jolida's products, the JD1000RC Integrated Stereo Tube Amplifier would probably work well, and does have the HT bypass. Since this is an integrated amp (preamp and amp in one chassis) there is no need for a preamp, however new retail is $2700.

Just adding the RLD-1 for 2 channel music listening should be a very noticeable improvement, and should be somewhat easy since it has HT bypass. The DNA 0.5 is also a very nice amp, and if it is a basic model, it can be sent to McCormack for upgrades to be even better.