Advice on upgrade

[admin_exported]

Hi folks I was just wondering if I could get a little advice from those more experienced than I in the Hi-Fi world.

I've got an arcam alpha 7 SE CD player and I've got an amp which hums and two really poor speakers. Now the amp and speakers really let the cd down and I'm looking to upgrade. Upgrade may be something of an exaggeration what I mean is I'm going to invest in a good but what would probably be described as budget amp and speakers. My Budget for both combined is about £300-400.

Could anyone point me in the direction of something that will do the Cd player justice?

All the best

Koy

 

[Andrew Everard]

Marantz PM4001, which you can find for about £140 without too much Googlage, and a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze BR2s. That should do, and with cash to spare.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, thanks for the speed reply Andrew, I go start looking into those immediately

All the best

Koy

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Andrew, If you could get a NAD c320BEE for a similar price would you go for the NAD or the Marantz PM 4001?

All the best

Koy

 

[Anonymous]

Also if I could get acoutsic energy aelite 1 speakers and stay in budget would you recommend them over the Monitor audio bronze.

all the best

Koy

 

[Thaiman]

MA BR2 has more mellow sound and less resolution (not a bad thing at this price point) The aelite1 has a better soundstage and better treble....I would go for the acoustic energy but that is my taste. I don't think either pair will let you down as they are top quality pair for not a lot of money. I will have to mention, as usual, that for around £400 you can get yourself a pair of Neat MYSTIQUE version2, 2nd hand, for sound per pound they are totally amazing.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Thaiman, thanks for the advice, do you have any views on the Nad c320BEE vs the marantz pm4001 ?

all the best

Koy

 

[Thaiman]

I would go toward Marantz but only just! Last time I heard Nad C320 BEE was years ago though. Marantz is very entertaining bit of amp for peanutsnbut if you can afford a bit more go for the 7200 model with hefty discount, they are so much better.

 

[Anonymous]

I decided to buy the Marantz and go for monitor audio bronze BR2 as Andrew suggested. I've got the marantz and just plugged it in and the difference between that and my old amp is like night and day. Thats even through my old crappy speakers. I'm hoping when I plug the BR2s in it all really comes together. I found what i thought was a good deal on the monitor speakers that threw in 10 meters of QED silver anniversary XT speaker cable, and I've heard thats like £5 a metre.

Thanks for the help from you folks.

All the best

Koy

 

[Thaiman]

well done and enjoy your new system.

 

[Anonymous]

I got my Monitor Bronze BR2s today and have set them up with my new amp.

The bass response on these things is unbelievable when it needs to be, they really do kick like a mule.

The only problem is now I need to buy some stands to position them on. My last set of speaker were so poor I never bothered investing and just plumped them next to the wall, but you can't do that with the BR2s. So at the moment I've got them position on top of my old speakers away from the wall, a very unsatisfactory state of affairs and I realise I won't be getting the most out of them like this. So i'll get some proper stands for them and really spend a little time setting them up properly.

All the best.

Koy