Upgrade route - what's next

Hi guys

now that i'm almost done with my home cinema, i want to put a plan in place for my 2 chanel listening.

There are three things that i definitely need to upgrade
1. speaker cable for my summits, currently i'm using some cheap monster cable speakers i had in my closet.
2. pre-amp, currently using my lexicon mc8
3. cd player, currently using my pc

the amps i'm driving the summits are a pair of denon poa-6600 monoblocks

i can only do a step at a time due to budget constrains so i wanted some advice on what would give me the biggest upgrade at the moment. for the pre and cd player i was thinking the krell 202 and 505 combo. but i cant do it at the same time

for speaker cable i dont have a clue. what would you suggest me to get my hands on and test. i can easily try any VDH, audioquest and acoustic zen

thanks for the advice

My suggestion...no surprise!

Audio Research Refrence 3 used is reasonably priced. As is the Moscode 402au reasonably priced new.
I can of course overwhelmingly recommend the Accuphase DP 57.

Gregadd
PS: Accuphase CD Players can be used sans preamp.

Start with the source, especially since you are using a PC.

I forgot

congratulations on your Summits. Are you new to ML or just upgrading to better speaker?
Greadd

keep the PC and consider a TRANSPORTER

Bring your source up to par first. Then look at a pre-amp (though a Lexicon is nothing to sneeze at) and then cables. Some say cables make a BIG difference... Well, I am not convinced, but to each his own on cables.

Pcar928fan said:

Bring your source up to par first. Then look at a pre-amp (though a Lexicon is nothing to sneeze at) and then cables. Some say cables make a BIG difference... Well, I am not convinced, but to each his own on cables.

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I agree, i just don't buy the cable argument...that's gotta be the biggest
ripoff going in audio. That would be the last item i would change. Having said
that, i have replaced all my stock power cords with relatively inexpensive
Audio Magic equipment (also interconnect- Excalibur II). I also bought some of their
speaker cable, plus another cable, Audioquest Bedrock. I can't really tell much
difference between the two speaker cables (one looks more impressive).
Put your money where you get the most bang for your buck. First speakers, then
amplification and a good CD player. Don't fall for the expensive cable hype, power
conditioner crap.

I would go with a CDP upgrade, it´s going to be the most satisfying in my opinion.

I wouldn´t worry about cables unless you have already upgraded the cdp and amp. But I was once a sceptic about cables but I can tell you my MIT speaker cables made a huge difference !

I also changed my normal interconnect cables to MIT awt3 and even my wife who hates hifi noticed a huge difference in sound quality. I have also tried cables from Chord Company with I noticed less difference I did with the MIT cables.

Mantana said:

Don't fall for the expensive cable hype

Click to expand...

Expensive does not ALWAYS equate to better cables (that is the real hype) but there are many instances where you get what you pay for. One can get great improvements with cables, but only after auditioning many different manufactures. It is a synergy thing between components and cables and how good the rest of your system is.

If cables are hype, then stock power cables and those red/white IC's would be all we would need.

power conditioner crap.

Click to expand...

Uhhh...sure....good power is not worth having.

pambs said:

There are three things that i definitely need to upgrade

Click to expand...

Source first then upgrade from that processor pre to a dedicated pre for music. While a new source will be an improvement you will not realize the true potential of your source until the pre is updated. Keep the Lexicon for HT duties.

From DBT300:

"One can get great improvements with cables"

"Uhhh...sure....good power is not worth having"

My take is for all the $ you could blow on expensive power conditioners
and 2-4k cables, you could invest that $ in better amps or
speakers and improve the overall quality of sound. If you want
to fork over 4k for a power conditioner, be my guest.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have some type of power conditioning
but that it should be a small part of your stereo budget.

I would also say cables might give MINOR improvement, not GREAT.

I home auditioned some 4k cables with a pair of Cremonas and was
no more impressed than my budget cables. They looked really good
though, I confess.

thanks guys, i ll be looking for a source then. i love the 505 and the 202 krell combo so i will try to get my hands on the 505 for now

as for the cables i just want something descent since the summit deserve a much better cable than what i ve got right now.

i ll keep you posted