Which to Upgrade first? My Amplifier or Speakers?


I have owned a nice system for years, but I am hardly an audiophile. You people impress me with your depth of knowledge of audio. I've been following this site for some time. This is my first post.
From time to time I replace or upgrade components. I've got a tricked out Linn Sondek LP 12 turntable. I recently acquired a McIntosh MP 100 phono amp and am hearing LP's now that exceed anything I've heard on CD's and equal if not exceed the output of my SACD's. I bring this up only to give a flavor of what I listen to.
The issue is as follows: I have a McIntosh MC 206 Amp that I bought in 2003 that puts out 200 watts per channel. I have no issues with it, although I've never had anything to compare it with. I've read some impressive reviews of how much of a difference an amplifier can make to the quality of sound output. For speakers I have Magnepan 3.6R's that I also bought in 2003. I love them. I can only afford to upgrade one at a time - let's say in the neighborhood of 10 - 12K. So, I'd like to hear what this august body has to say about which I should upgrade first and why? The amp or the speakers? Thank you.
normantaylor

Showing 1 response by 8th-note

My recommendation is to take part of your upgrade budget and a couple days of PTO and attend AXPONA this winter. This will help you calibrate your expectations by hearing other systems. You will get a chance to hear a wide range of speakers and electronics but most important it will give you a good sense of how your system stacks up to the current state of the art. Besides, it's just plain fun to geek out on this hobby for 3 days.

My guess is that you will conclude that your system sounds pretty damn good. That was certainly the case with me. I heard many rooms where the value of the cords, cables, and interconnects exceeded the value of my entire system and the whole thing didn't sound as good as my setup. I also heard other rooms that sounded gorgeous and it helped me better determine where my system could use improvement.

You have a very difficult upgrade situation because you are starting from such a solid platform. It's a good problem to have.