Upgrading wallet-friendly Hi-Fi Seperates

[Rednax85]

I'm getting the itch to upgrade and would appreciate any advice from the knowledgeable types round here as to where my money would be best spent.

I've currently got a fairly low-end system, a NAD C320BEE amp, Arcam CD72T cd player, Pure DRX-702ES DAB radio and B&W 601 S3 speakers. Can't remember the cables off the top of my head, think they're maybe QED Silver Anniversary XT Speaker cables and QED Quenex interconnects.

Any thoughts?

 

[Nobber22]

The amp looks like it might be holding the other kit back - go demo some from the class above or two. The CD player is still fine and the speakers can take a lot more welly (with control). Cables are good enough too.

 

[Rednax85]

Cheers Nobber, any suggestions on a few amps to try?

 

[Nobber22]

What's your budget?

You could start with a Marantz 6002 or Rotel RA05 or another NAD: C355BEE. I really like the older NAD C352, so tracking down a second-hand one would be a great idea.
Arcam do some fine older amps too, such as the A85.
Cambridge Audio have some new amps out at Richer Sounds, but they'll sound brighter than your C320.

Or you could go higher up and spend over £600 on a new Cyrus 6 or Roksan Kandy, but obviously a demo would be essential.

There's tons of good stuff out there, good luck.

 

[BlueWizard]

Your existing system actually strikes me as a pretty sweet system, good amp, good tuner, good CD player, and good speakers.

The NAD amp at 50 watts per channel, is more than adequate in a stereo amp. Certainly we would all desire 100watts or more, but watts cost money, and the closer you get to 100watts the faster the money rises.

I think to get any reasonable upgrade to your system, you are going to need 75 watts or more. If you can afford the NAD 355 (80w/ch; £350), that would be sweet.

The one thing you haven't mentioned, or perhaps I missed it, is your budget. That will determine how far we take the upgrade.

Personally, I would be at a loss for where to upgrade your existing system, if I had only, say, £300 to spend. It would be a toss up between speaker and amp. But, as always, I think I would be leaning toward a speaker upgrade. Still, it gets down to how much you are willing to spend, and I'm not criticizing your existing speakers. They are somewhat old, but are an extremely popular speaker even now.

Once we have a budget, we'll be able to better help. But as it stands, your system is pretty nice.

Just a few random thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[kushtibari]

I wouldn't automatically assume that 'more watts = better quality'. I'm managing to struggle by on a paltry 33 watts and I don't appear to be having any problems.

As has been said its a nice system.

The NAD was/is a very good budget amplifier and can punch above its weight imo. However, I think it could be improved in the context of your system. Nobbers recommendation of a NAD 352 isn't a bad one. It just depends if you want to go with the NAD sound.

The Arcam is a nice CD player. I had a CD92 for a wee while and it was very nice. I can't imagine the 72 will be that far behind it.

I've no great experience with your speakers but an idea of how much to spend would help. I saw a Densen B-100 amp for sale the other day for £400 which I thought wasn't bad for a nice piece of kit.

There are a lot of very good second hand speakers and amps out there in the £500-£600 bracket. I've tended to spend as much as I can afford on one bit of my system at a time and upgraded that way. A while back my speakers (Spendor S6e) were probably the stronger part of my system, now they're the bit that will be replaced first.

 

[trailer]

"more watts = better quality" is nonsense.

 

[jlg1983]

I seem to have done what you want to do, but in reverse.

I started off purchasing a Cambridge Audio 840A V1 and MS Mezzo 2 speakers, costing upwards of £700. There was no doubting the power and precision of this combo, I just didn't like sound, far too clinical for my liking. Both the amp and speakers are highly regarded.

So Richer Sounds were brilliant and allowed me to return both, no charge.

I heard many people recommending the second hand route. So I managed to pick up a NAD C320BEE and some B&W 601 S2's totalling £200. I actually prefer the sound of this system to the high wattage of the other system.

Strange eh?

 

[BlueWizard]

I wouldn't automatically assume that 'more watts = better quality'.

Trailer "more watts = better quality" is nonsense."

It depends on what you mean by 'quality'. More watts certainly doesn't mean better quality equipment. Just the opposite, for a given price, a lot more watts probably means poorer quality equipment.

However, all other things being reasonable, more watts does mean better quality sound in the sense of more clarity and dynamic range.

In general, within any given brand, moving up to a more powerful model usually means better quality as well as more power, both of which are to your advantage.

But, as most people mistakenly assume, more watt does not equal more sound; 'more sound' meaning louder. It takes a huge change in power to increase the overall loudness by a noticeable amount.

What more power gives you is usually proportionally better overall equipment quality, which is why the price of an amp rises so quick as the power rises, and more head room.

Head room, like perceived loudness is not linear. Twice the voltage signal head room, mean four times the power to accomplish it. But four times the power, is really only +6db louder, or in layman's terms, noticeably but only slightly louder.

So a step up from a 50w NAD to an 80w NAD is indeed a step upward in both equipment and sound quality.

Again, in this particular situation, I would be hard pressed to choose which to upgrade, my amp or my speakers. Though, I do think a 50w is enough to get the job done for home listening. As a side note, my current amp is 55w/ch.

So, I would be leaning toward some bigger and better speakers. For me, it would likely be a pair of Diamond 9.6 or possibly Monitor Audio Bronze BR5. But if this person is reasonably happy with their B&W 601, them perhaps an upgrade to B&W 685 might be worth considering.

Again, because this is such a reasonable well balance system to start with, I would be torn which direction to choose. It would get down to BUDGET and impulse.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[Rednax85]

Thanks for the advice and explanations, I'm new to this and so it all does help.

I'm impressed that the consensus is positive on the balance of the system, it would have been down entirely to luck rather than judgement on my part. Almost tempted now to stick with what I've got and instead spend out on some decent speaker stands and mains cords.

Think I'll go demo some of those amps suggested, probably leaning toward the NAD 352/355BEE or Arcam A85 as i'm not sure the Marantz or Rotel is much of a step up, and the B&W 685s (much difference from the 601s?).

Cheers.

 

[evans]

Thanks for the advice and explanations, I'm new to this and so it all does help.

I'm impressed that the consensus is positive on the balance of the system, it would have been down entirely to luck rather than judgement on my part. Almost tempted now to stick with what I've got and instead spend out on some decent speaker stands and mains cords.

Think I'll go demo some of those amps suggested, probably leaning toward the NAD 352/355BEE or Arcam A85 as i'm not sure the Marantz or Rotel is much of a step up, and the B&W 685s (much difference from the 601s?).

Cheers.

M8 I have the same speakers as you and without a doubt they are top not only for what i paid but also the quality they have. Only bass is lacking alittle due to their size but for me this isnt a drawback. My friend recently bought 685 speakers and they are very good again but the build quality of the 601 is better. Also clarity is a bit better on the 601 S3. Only if you want a little more bass the 685 is better. I would go for an arcam amp as thats what i have and it goes very well with the 601 speakers. Mine is the A70 as i dont need ear piercing loudness, very airy and clear sound. Other things i have done to improve sound is connect the speaker cable i have to the High frequency (top) connection of the speaker, which gives more HF fidelity than Bass. Also i bought some nice LAT international cables both digital and interconnects. that have made quite a difference. Another option for you is if you invest in a dacmagic DAC if your CD player has digital coaxial or optical out. However i dont know how good the arcam cd player is? Lastly you can buy something like i have a Belkin power filter to connect all your equipment and reduce Electrical and magnetic interference to better your sound if you have a noisy power supply