2. amps-preamps
  3. 1129306873

upgrade advice for budget-minded beginner

I was looking for some advice on possible upgrade paths. I'm new to this A'gon community and want to get the most out of my "investments" since I'm a college student with limited funds. Currently, I have B&W 602s with an old Denon DCD1000, Yamaha M-60, and a Kenwood pre that needs to go. My noise floor is just awful, the highs are very forward and bright, and alot of music sounds lifeless and overtly digital.
I was considering the Onix reference 1/SP3/XCD88 combo for $1500, but wasn't sure if the Ref1's would be a huge step up from my 602s thus justifying the purchase. Also, I've never heard a tube amp, and although the characteristic naturalness and soundstage abilities seem to be what I'm looking for the supposed lack of woofer control and low wattage make me a bit nervous.
Another option I was toying with was keeping the Yamaha M-60 and adding an Eastern Electric Minimax preamp and possibly CDP to my setup hoping to take the edge off the highs, open up my soundstage, and eliminate background noise.
Basically, I was wondering what people that have more experience with this hobby think would yield the most "bang for the buck" in my situation. I want a deep and broad soundstage, natural sounding mids, musical highs, and authoritative bass but don't want to spend an arm and a leg to get it (like everyone else, I'm sure!). I'd appreciate any input, and am sorry about the length of the post.
ethanh

Showing 1 response by lion

lion
6 posts
 
Hi Ethan,

No need to go integrated and lose upgrade flexibility.
If you do go integrated, Plinius is the best sounding for the money.

ALWAYS BUY USED AND SAVE YOUR $$$.

Easy to sell at same price if you change your mind after a while.

Go for better known and musical pieces like:

PREAMPS: Dump the Kenwood pre. for $200 you can get an Apt Holman preamp. Vintage and solid state but very smooth and musical. Well made. Not plastic junque.
For $500-$600 the tubed Conrad Johnson PV-10 or 10A. Smooth, musical, holographic, newer, reliable.

CD: Dump the Denon CD. Any Rotel is much smoother and more musical. NAD not bad but there is better out there. Music Hall CD-25 is a nice one for a bit more $$$. Don't do Theta. Forward and aggressive sounding to me. Or if Denon has digital out, add a DAC such as my Musetex for sale at $450. Or older Audio Alchemy is cheap, smooth, musical.

POWER AMP: Yamaha not bad. Try it with the CJ preamp before changing. B&Ws do agree with tubes but more power is better. And very expensive.

WIRES: Cardas or Audioquest. Buy the best you can afford but Cardas Neutral Reference or AQ Python will make a world of difference.

SPEAKERS: I like B&Ws and yours are fine as is for now to me.

Al Slater from Plateau Audio (lion)
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