Seeking Advice to Improve My Audio System ($1000 Budget)


Hello everyone. I have started collecting physical media (mainly Classical Music, but also some Metal, and older singer/songwriter material) for a few years now, and have built up a collection that is mainly vinyl, but also some CDs. I have slowly built up a stereo system to support it. I am not very knowledgeable with audio equipment and feel like I am drowning in information, and so I have pieced together what there seems to be a consensus around with my budget. So far I have:

Audio Engine A5+ 150 W Speakers

REGA Planar Plus 1 Turntable with built in stage

SMSL PL200 CD Player 

I use the RCA port for my turntable, and the aux port for my CD player.

Now I am wondering where I should go with my setup. I want my next investment to be around the $1000 range, but am not sure where to go with it. Should I get a woofer for the speakers and an external preamp for my turntable? Or at this price, am I better off looking for better speakers...or is there another weak point in my system? My main concerns are that the midrange and upper frequencies do sound muddy compared to other systems I have heard (but they aren't terrible) and while the bass isn't bad, it certainly could be enhanced.

As a final question, I am confused when it comes to the pre-amp. I don't quite understand how they work, and I am a bit confused and worried that I would run into an issue with my existing built-in preamp overriding an external one? Any advice?

carlyleciv

Showing 2 responses by mihorn

I recommend to get Wavetouch audio WT-95 which is the world’s best sound SACD, CD, FLAC, media player + streamer. 

Compare sounds:

Original music  vs. WT-95  vs. dCS Varese DAC (million $ system)

Original music  vs. WT-95  vs. dCS Varese DAC (million $ system)

My 2 cents. I wish I knew below info at beginning of my audio journey 40 years ago. Then I didn’t have to waste my effort, money, and time so much. All audio systems in the world are severely veiled, noisy, and distorted. There is no audio system sounds close to the original sound and WT-95 is the closest (the most accurate) to the original sound. 

All audio systems (incl. million $ systems) sound/behave like the left speaker in below.  Your audio system sounds like the left speaker

Many people merry-go-round upgrade audio gears forever hoping their audio will sound satisfactory with next purchase but no one has done it. So, upgrade wisely. Alex / Wavetouch audio 

carlyleciv OP       @gano I have come to learn that this is simply a process of acclamation and trial and error.

1) Everyone here (and world) are listening noisy, veiled, bright sound audio systems, except me. They've heard these sounds all their lives. Your trial and error learning process will be similar to those people that it will be merry-go-round upgrades which takes much money, effort, and time. It can be fun some times but won't be fun more times when you are disappointed with your upgrades. Remember this. No one succeeded and satisfied and done with audio upgrade.

2) Why almost all women don't like their husbands' audio sounds? It's because non-a'philes (women) don't have the listening technique which converts all-around distortion noise to the all-around the listener sound, so called "immersive sound". Immersive sound is known as the best way to listen hi-end audio. I've always enjoyed imm sound before I have my current natural sound system.

3) There are different ways to achieve the immersive sound hearing mode such as dilating pupils, watching hard (like eyes out) between spkrs to be sucked into noisy sounds, changing to blur eye vision, disconnecting nerve between eras and brain, etc. This is very hard to do and a'philes fall asleep in few minutes in immersive sound. 

4) Bad audio sound (immersive sound) is health hazard. I don't like to do IS anymore since I have the natural sound system. But I have to do it to hear audio sounds (in car radio, in church, speakers everywhere). It's bad feeling and it actually hurt my eyes and ears physically. And I believe the bad audio sound is one of reasons for more Tinnitus, watery constant dilated eyes, itch ears, dementia, etc. 

Natural sound wan't avail before and people had to hear un-natural audio sounds all their lives. Now the natural sound is avail and you OP can choose a different audio journey from others.  Alex/Wavetouch audio