Possible upgrade - not too sure?

bigdaddysokol

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I'm thinking of upgrading my separates package but am not too clever when it comes to audio equipment, + i'm not too healthy in the funds department :(

I currently own a Marantz CD6000 (with accompanying amplifier - PM4200).

There is a NAD C542 going for £100 on the trade forums but is this a substantial upgrade from my current Marantz CD player?

If the NAD is a good choice, then would an amplifier of the same brand be the best partner (bearing in mind I would like a phono output and the NAD amps. in my price range don't seem to offer one).

Any help for a poor lehman would be greatly appreciated, thanks. :lease:
 
I currently own a Marantz CD6000 (with accompanying amplifier - PM4200).

There is a NAD C542 going for £100 on the trade forums but is this a substantial upgrade from my current Marantz CD player?

I doubt it. I've A-B trialled a 542 against my Marantz 4000 ( a cheaper player than the 6000) and personally couldn't hear any real improvement. that would persuade me to replace it with the NAD


If the NAD is a good choice, then would an amplifier of the same brand be the best partner (bearing in mind I would like a phono output and the NAD amps. in my price range don't seem to offer one).

If you didn't have the Marantz, I'd say go for it, but you've already got some excellent kit. What are speakers are you driving? That's where you can often make the greatest impact on the overall sound - and unfortunately often the greatest impact on your wallet. :D

Ross
 
RossFlet said:
If you didn't have the Marantz, I'd say go for it, but you've already got some excellent kit. What are speakers are you driving? That's where you can often make the greatest impact on the overall sound - and unfortunately often the greatest impact on your wallet. :D

Ross

I currently own some Jamo E800 bookshelf speakers. I bought them because they were in my price range but I haven't got a clue if they work well with my marantz setup. I could now afford to spend around £400-500 on speakers so what would be the best choice???
 
As Ross mentions above changing your speakers is where you can make the biggest difference.

I posted a reply to your question in the speakers section, and going along to a dealer to listen to some speakers is the best way of finding something that is right for you.

There's a review here of your currnet speakers - whether or not you agree with it, it will give you a few things to listen for to critically evaluate your system, and more importanly, to identify the things you want to improve.

http://202.186.86.35/audio/story.asp?file=/2002/3/21/audiofile/21jamo

For between £400-£500 you will have quite a lot of choice. If you haven't got them already, a decent set of stands will be a must (I assume you're sticking with bookshelf speakers). You can safely buy stands from E-Bay - there's very little to go wrong, other than cosmetic faults, and you can always re-spray them. Look for Atacama Nexus or SE, or even Partington Dreadnoughts (a tad pricey).

That should leave you with around £450 for speakers - plenty of choice at that price.
 
If you are willing to look ex-dem/second hand then £500 is almost a brand new system worth over £1k (especially if you sell your current gear that could net you another £2-300).

If you spend £4-500 on speakers and still want bookshelf speakers you could easily pick up so monitor audio GR10's (RRP £900) or some Quad 12L for £300 (RRP £500). I would try and get some PMC DB1+ or TB2+ - stunning speakers (I think there is a set for sale in the classifieds). PMC/Dynaudio and you are in a whole different ball park.

The same applies to floorstanders (not my favourites but) you could get some Quad 22L's for around £500.

FWIW - your current kit is quite neat and the speakers will give you the biggest lift/change but you may find that once you've bought some new speakers the kit begins to sound out of place - plenty of room to upgrade!

I've found the Sevenoaks clearance site to have some real bargains in it as well as the second hand forum (do look at the PMC's)
 

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