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 2 responses by mahlman

OK question for OP. You posted this on the pro section so are you interested in a rehash of all the homeowner stuff talked about so far or are you really interested in pro gear?
  Pro gear opens your world to astounding speakers from Klipsch. The K-402 horn lens is the best in the world right now and you can mate it with various bass bins either direct radiator or horn type.
  Currently I run a home build Super MWM bass bin which is a variant of the Klipsch MWM bin except mine goes down to 27hz as a single fold horn. On top is a K-402 horn with the 1132 driver and run it off a pair of Crown xli800's and a Xilica DSP. You can build an astounding system like this for about $6,000 and that is with new K-402 horns as your chance of finding used is about zero.
  If you are not into building but would rather just buy, the Klipsch Jubilee is a whole lot cheaper than a ton of all this name dropper stuff and has prodigious sound. If you really want to enter into the world of genuine hi end sound you are going to have to migrate to a DSP and multiple amps. It is daunting to start off doing this but the reward is jaw dropping sound and FAR less $$$$ than most all this fru fru stuff touted around here. You can PM me if interested and I will fill you in on what I did and why.
  Just for grins though you can look up Klipsch KPT-456, MCM 1900's which were my two prior systems and I can tell you the existing Super MWM beats the MCM 1900 easily. You just have no idea the superb fidelity pro gear brings to the table and a darned sight less than all that name dropper stuff.

"Good tweeters can also bring out more detail.  Most of us also have hearing loss in higher frequencies."

 I have come to the conclusion that until your HF is right the whole spectrum of sound you hear will be off. I don't know how it works but the right HF gets you better bass, snappier drums and percussion even below the crossover point. HF does magic to the whole speaker and until you hear it the first time you have no idea that was what was missing in most setups I have heard.