Advice on what to change/upgrade :)

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I have the upgrade itch yet again and want some advice on what to change/upgrade to best improve my system. I recently bought some new Dali Suite 2.8 floorstanding speakers which have brought a much warmer sound to my system than my previous Mordaunt Short Avant 916i speakers. The sound almost seems too warm though, and lacking sharpness. I am wondering if there is a weakness in my system that if changed could help to balance this out and bring a bit more excitement from the sound produced.

My system is as mentioned in my signature with the following connections:

CD to AMP Cambridge Audio Azur Reference phono

Blu-ray to AMP Cambridge Audio Arctic phono

Xbox 360 & V+HD to CD Optical cables (unbranded)

I'm hoping that the weakness is in the cables that I am using (as that would be the easiest & cheapest way of upgrading). Can anyone suggest what would make the improvement that I am looking for?

My thoughts are: Chord Odyssey speaker cable, Chord Chameleon Silver Plus phono cable, Atlas optical cable, Lindy Mains Conditioner, Chord SuperScreen mains cable. Any comments on this list for bringing more clarity and sharpness to the sound of my system? What would make the biggest difference & make the improvement that I am after?

Thanks in advance for any comments and/or advice

Doug

 

[the record spot]

Cambridge gear isn't typically warm. I'd be inclined to swap your speakers to find something which suits your audio tastes, than fiddle about on a fruitless search for the right cable. Time wasted IMO. Were the Dalis a snap purchase off the Oaks of Seven website by any chance...?

 

[matthewpiano]

Agree with RS. Mordaunt-Short Mezzo 6 would have been the way to go IMO. All the detail and life that you are used to with the MS914s, but with that extra warmth and body to the sound.

 

[Craig M.]

if you can, demo any expensive optical cable before parting with cash. i wish i had.

or in blunter terms, they're a waste of money unless you just want something pretty.

i agree with the posts above.

 

[Anonymous]

The Dalis were indeed a snap purchase from SSAV. I got them at a bargain price of £710 for 2 pairs of floorstanders and a centre speaker delivered. I love the look of them and having done a bit of research, liked what other people had to say about them. I do love the speakers, as I said before, they are very warm, they look great and have a lovely finish. They just don't excite me though... hence my post on here... I am hoping that it isn't going to come to replacing the speakers as I am a sucker for style and am too easily seduced by a lovely looking pair of floorstanders. I have admired B&W 684s for a long time and have wanted them very much because of how they look and I know that they are very good speakers. I Have heard though, that they don't go well with Cambridge Audio systems... The Dalis seemed like the perfect middle ground, the style that I crave and from what I've heard, go well with Cambridge systems...

I fear that my "perfect" sounding hi-fi, may well result in the parting of a fair amount more money than I have already spent. Alas, this is the problem with striving for perfection, it costs a lot of money to get it right!

 

[JoelSim]

You need to demo unless you trust your judgement completely. Never buy on price alone.

 

[Anonymous]

how recently did you buy the dali's? i would give yourself time to get used to the sound of your current speakers before upgrading them. you may find they haven't even worn in fully yet.. depends how long you've had them/how much listening you've done obviously.

my suggestion for the least expensive way to possibly get a bit more detail and pull them back to the neutral sounding level would be an outboard DAC such as the MF M1DAC or the Arcam rdac. Both are supposed to be supremely detailed and shouldn't colour the sound.

But as i said - Give your speakers time before coughing up more cash. It's hard not to buy new things... new things are fun and shiny... but if you aspire to go back to a sound your used to then you will end up back with similar speakers to your original pair with a few K less in your bank account.

 

[Anonymous]

I bought the speakers almost 2 months ago and they have had daily use since, so they've probably had 200 hours of use... Do you think an outboard DAC would add much detail? Bearing in mind that I already use the onboard DAC in my CA 740C CD player. I know that an outboard DAC will generally produce better results than an onboard one, but am I likely to notice the difference? My priority with my system is how music sounds from my CD player. A DAC wouldn't add anything to my CDs as far as I'm aware as it's already an analogue signal, rendering the DAC obsolete as far as music is concerned (if I am correct in what I have in my mind). Although it would bring an improvement to digital inputs, they are not my priority.

From what people are saying, it looks like it's my speakers that are letting me down Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what else I could change to improve the sound, or even what speakers would be more suitable? As I said before, I'm a sucker for looks when it comes to speakers. Thanks for the previous suggestion of the MS Mezzo 6s, but they just don't do it for me in terms of appearance. I know that many people will think I have my priorities wrong here, but if I don't love the look of my speakers, no matter how good they sound, I just won't be happy!

Thanks again for everyone's advice so far

 

[Big Chris]

Don't be ashamed for aesthetics playing an important part. As you say, you've got to live with them day in, day out. I would say don't make aesthetics the primary part though.

 

[Anonymous]

another inexpensive method to try would be to move the speakers around in the room. this usually renders great results!

a lot of the time it's not possible though =(

you could also try some bass traps if the speakers are sitting close to the corners. you can get some that look quite unobtrusive. kind of like a tall thin cushion like seat. - another fairly inexpensive method

 

[bay24]

dougolada:
I bought the speakers almost 2 months ago and they have had daily use since, so they've probably had 200 hours of use... Do you think an outboard DAC would add much detail? Bearing in mind that I already use the onboard DAC in my CA 740C CD player. I know that an outboard DAC will generally produce better results than an onboard one, but am I likely to notice the difference? My priority with my system is how music sounds from my CD player. A DAC wouldn't add anything to my CDs as far as I'm aware as it's already an analogue signal, rendering the DAC obsolete as far as music is concerned (if I am correct in what I have in my mind). Although it would bring an improvement to digital inputs, they are not my priority.

From what people are saying, it looks like it's my speakers that are letting me down Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what else I could change to improve the sound, or even what speakers would be more suitable? As I said before, I'm a sucker for looks when it comes to speakers. Thanks for the previous suggestion of the MS Mezzo 6s, but they just don't do it for me in terms of appearance. I know that many people will think I have my priorities wrong here, but if I don't love the look of my speakers, no matter how good they sound, I just won't be happy!

Thanks again for everyone's advice so far

I agree with you, I do not think an external DAC will make a noticable difference considering the 740C has the same DAC as the dacmagic (think the upsampling rate is different though). I would try the cord chameleon silver plus between amp and cd. To me it made a big difference compared to both a merlin Bach and shb cable. To ke it seemed to add some punch and detail but prevented the brightness which was always there with the merlin cable. Got mine for £45 off flea bay.

 

[drummerman]

Are they bi-wireable? Do you use brass links?

 

[Anonymous]

I already have them bi-wired, so no brass links in place

 

[Anonymous]

bay24:dougolada:

I agree with you, I do not think an external DAC will make a noticable difference considering the 740C has the same DAC as the dacmagic (think the upsampling rate is different though). I would try the cord chameleon silver plus between amp and cd. To me it made a big difference compared to both a merlin Bach and shb cable. To ke it seemed to add some punch and detail but prevented the brightness which was always there with the merlin cable. Got mine for £45 off flea bay.

This is what I was hoping to hear from others as replacing the interconnect would be the easiest option and would be on the cheap(er) side of upgrading my kit. I will keep an eye on flea bay and see if any come up for a decent price...

 

[Anonymous]

JoelSim:
You need to demo unless you trust your judgement completely. Never buy on price alone.

Did you really say that? You?

 

[Anonymous]

Peter Foate:
another inexpensive method to try would be to move the speakers around in the room. this usually renders great results!

a lot of the time it's not possible though =(

you could also try some bass traps if the speakers are sitting close to the corners. you can get some that look quite unobtrusive. kind of like a tall thin cushion like seat. - another fairly inexpensive method

As you have pointed out, it's not always possible, and in my case, there really isn't much flexibility with the placement...

I've never heard of bass traps, will have to have a look into that...

 

[JoelSim]

igglebert:JoelSim:
You need to demo unless you trust your judgement completely. Never buy on price alone.

Did you really say that? You?

Yes. I never buy on price alone. I identify what I want and then buy it when it's opportune. It doesn't always work, I was after a Unison Unico amp for over a year and nada...

I do lots and lots of research tho.

By the way Iggle I managed to sell on all the LSA glasses/carafes/jugs etc that I didn't want. Ended up keeping 8 beer, 8 red wine, 8 long tumblers, 8 short tumblers, 12 Champagne, and a water carafe, all brand new in boxes for about £30 outlay. That also includes giving my boss 4 wine, a wine carafe and a set of cheese knives as a thankyou for her offering her little cottage FOC for my holiday next week. Oh and giving a cocktail jug to someone for their birthday.

Can't say fairer than that!

 

[Anonymous]

Sweet.

 

[bay24]

dougolada:bay24:dougolada:

I agree with you, I do not think an external DAC will make a noticable difference considering the 740C has the same DAC as the dacmagic (think the upsampling rate is different though). I would try the cord chameleon silver plus between amp and cd. To me it made a big difference compared to both a merlin Bach and shb cable. To ke it seemed to add some punch and detail but prevented the brightness which was always there with the merlin cable. Got mine for £45 off flea bay.

This is what I was hoping to hear from others as replacing the interconnect would be the easiest option and would be on the cheap(er) side of upgrading my kit. I will keep an eye on flea bay and see if any come up for a decent price...

I was quite surprised by the difference I went for the chord cable after reading a review of the 740 combo in another hifi mag. It's worth a try as you should be able to sell it on and not lose any money.

 

[Anonymous]

bay24:dougolada:bay24:dougolada:

I agree with you, I do not think an external DAC will make a noticable difference considering the 740C has the same DAC as the dacmagic (think the upsampling rate is different though). I would try the cord chameleon silver plus between amp and cd. To me it made a big difference compared to both a merlin Bach and shb cable. To ke it seemed to add some punch and detail but prevented the brightness which was always there with the merlin cable. Got mine for £45 off flea bay.

This is what I was hoping to hear from others as replacing the interconnect would be the easiest option and would be on the cheap(er) side of upgrading my kit. I will keep an eye on flea bay and see if any come up for a decent price...

I was quite surprised by the difference I went for the chord cable after reading a review of the 740 combo in another hifi mag. It's worth a try as you should be able to sell it on and not lose any money.

I think it's a no brainer spending that sort of money, although I have been intrigued to see glowing reviews about the SHB Quintessence interconnect and am wondering, do I go for the name and reputation of Chord or do I go for the cheaper, lesser known Silver High Breed... Decisions decisions decisions...

I think I need to demo some kit on anything bigger, such as replacing my speakers if that's what it's going to take to get the sound I want. Any suggestions for what speakers would be a good match for my Cambridge kit? Looking at Monitor Audio GS20s at the moment and thinking, mmm, they look nice Any opinions? I will of course demo anything before spending that sort of cash...

Does anyone here ever think, --right, that's it, my system is perfect and I don't need or want to change anything any more--? Or is everyone else like me, always striving for bigger, better, clearer and more expressive?

 

[bay24]

dougolada:bay24:dougolada:bay24:dougolada:

I agree with you, I do not think an external DAC will make a noticable difference considering the 740C has the same DAC as the dacmagic (think the upsampling rate is different though). I would try the cord chameleon silver plus between amp and cd. To me it made a big difference compared to both a merlin Bach and shb cable. To ke it seemed to add some punch and detail but prevented the brightness which was always there with the merlin cable. Got mine for £45 off flea bay.

This is what I was hoping to hear from others as replacing the interconnect would be the easiest option and would be on the cheap(er) side of upgrading my kit. I will keep an eye on flea bay and see if any come up for a decent price...

I was quite surprised by the difference I went for the chord cable after reading a review of the 740 combo in another hifi mag. It's worth a try as you should be able to sell it on and not lose any money.

I think it's a no brainer spending that sort of money, although I have been intrigued to see glowing reviews about the SHB Quintessence interconnect and am wondering, do I go for the name and reputation of Chord or do I go for the cheaper, lesser known Silver High Breed... Decisions decisions decisions...

I think I need to demo some kit on anything bigger, such as replacing my speakers if that's what it's going to take to get the sound I want. Any suggestions for what speakers would be a good match for my Cambridge kit? Looking at Monitor Audio GS20s at the moment and thinking, mmm, they look nice Any opinions? I will of course demo anything before spending that sort of cash...

Does anyone here ever think, --right, that's it, my system is perfect and I don't need or want to change anything any more--? Or is everyone else like me, always striving for bigger, better, clearer and more expressive?

I used a pair of SHB synergy 2i with my 740s for a while and liked them alot, not as good as the chord though. I think the new SHB is about the same price new as a second hand Chord silver +.

I love the sound of my Neutrons on the end of my 740 but sounds like you are after something a bit bigger. I think the GS20s could be a good call if you can get them at a good price, I came close to getting some GS10s for mine when I was looking (on recomendation from people on the forum)but decided to buy new in the end.

 

[bay24]

dougolada:bay24:dougolada:bay24:dougolada:

I agree with you, I do not think an external DAC will make a noticable difference considering the 740C has the same DAC as the dacmagic (think the upsampling rate is different though). I would try the cord chameleon silver plus between amp and cd. To me it made a big difference compared to both a merlin Bach and shb cable. To ke it seemed to add some punch and detail but prevented the brightness which was always there with the merlin cable. Got mine for £45 off flea bay.

This is what I was hoping to hear from others as replacing the interconnect would be the easiest option and would be on the cheap(er) side of upgrading my kit. I will keep an eye on flea bay and see if any come up for a decent price...

I was quite surprised by the difference I went for the chord cable after reading a review of the 740 combo in another hifi mag. It's worth a try as you should be able to sell it on and not lose any money.

I think it's a no brainer spending that sort of money, although I have been intrigued to see glowing reviews about the SHB Quintessence interconnect and am wondering, do I go for the name and reputation of Chord or do I go for the cheaper, lesser known Silver High Breed... Decisions decisions decisions...

I think I need to demo some kit on anything bigger, such as replacing my speakers if that's what it's going to take to get the sound I want. Any suggestions for what speakers would be a good match for my Cambridge kit? Looking at Monitor Audio GS20s at the moment and thinking, mmm, they look nice Any opinions? I will of course demo anything before spending that sort of cash...

Does anyone here ever think, --right, that's it, my system is perfect and I don't need or want to change anything any more--? Or is everyone else like me, always striving for bigger, better, clearer and more expressive?

I used a pair of SHB synergy 2i with my 740s for a while and liked them alot, not as good as the chord though. I think the new SHB is about the same price new as a second hand Chord silver +.

I love the sound of my Neutrons on the end of my 740 but sounds like you are after something a bit bigger. I think the GS20s could be a good call if you can get them at a good price, I came close to getting some GS10s for mine when I was looking (on recomendation from people on the forum)but decided to buy new in the end.

 

[Anonymous]

Did you ever demo any Monitor Audio speakers with your kit?

 

[bay24]

dougolada:Did you ever demo any Monitor Audio speakers with your kit?

No I was going to buy blind second hand. People on the forum had said that they could be a good match but since I have read others say the RS range exaggerated the CA tendency for brightness, I suppose it depends what kind of sound you are after.

Tried them with some Epos (not good at all)and Quad standmounts which seemed to have a good full sound but lacked the detail and clarity of the AVI Neutrons. Had a quick listen with some Maudant short Mezzo standmounts (not sure which one)on the shop floor which I remember sounded good at the time.

Not sure if that helps or confuses things more!

 

[Anonymous]

I have had a look online at the AVI Neutrons and the pictures make them look tiny! I think I'd find it very strange going from my current floorstanders, which are on the large side, to something so petite. I do like my floorstanders, but I admit that I could probable get a tighter sound from a pair of standmounts... My other half would be very happy if I got some standmounts as she, like so many other halves, would rather she didn't see all my kit. I even built a TV stand to sit behind my Atacama Equinox HiFi rack to hide all of the cabling to keep her happy. I must admit it's nice to have a purpose built unit to keep my cables so well organised.

I think what I need to do is take my amp & CDP to a decent HiFi shop and spend a good few hours demoing all of their speakers and see what floats my boat... Sounds like a fun day out