Advice please

[admin_exported]

Hello All,

A friend of mine passes on his read What Hi-FI mag every month to yours truly. This has sparked off my interest in upgradng my ancient system. Ive already purchased better speaker cable, Interconnects and spiked speaker stands, and that has made a marked improvement. Now im considering if there is a need, or any benifits to be gained by purchasing a new amp or cdp or even speakers.

I have been looking at the budget end, mainly Cambridge and Marantz. At the moment I am playing CD through

Technics AA class Amp SU-V55A circa 1987
Technics SL-P520 class AA cd player circa 1987
Through B&W DM1800 speakers circa 1991

Ive only set that up after a few years stashed in a cupboard, as all my sound was through;-

Technics AV receiver SA DX940
Panasonic DVD XV10
with the B&W speakers on main and a technics surround set with eltax subwoofer for surround

So in a nutshell im using the Technics old stuff for my music and the newer receiver for surround.

My question, would I benifit from getting rid of the old and bringing in some new, such as

Cambridge Audio A1 VERSION 3, Cambridge Audio CD5 and Tannoy F1 CUSTOM Apple Thats only around £300 from Richer sounds, but wuld I be wasting my money? How does the Technics seperates stand up to the budget market.

Sorry about going on, but I would hate to scrap my old system to find no improvement, although I would suspect that the newer technology would make my Technics almost redundant.

Thanks in advance.

John

 

[Anonymous]

Do you like the sound of your current set up?

 

[Anonymous]

Its okay, but could it be better?

I know that the opinion is in the listener, and it sounds alright to me, but in 20 years, has the technology moved on so much that the sound could be substantialy better? in other words, could I be missing out on an even better listening expeirance?

John

 

[fatboyslimfast]

TBH, the A1 would IMHO be well behind the Technics - having had both an AA technics and an A1. The next step up from the technics amp would be in the region of £200 (see below).

I can't comment on the CD, having not heard it, but again the B&W were good speakers in their day and the next step up would be something like the Tannoy Mercury F4 floorstanders (now £149 at richer sounds, down from £400).

I would say that to noticeably improve that system, you would probably be looking at the thick end of £6-700, going for something like the Marantz PM6002 amp, CD6002 CD and the Tannoy F4s... £580 from richer at the mo...but allow £30 for interconnects and at least £3pm for speaker cable...

 

[Anonymous]

Many Thanks,

Thats the kind of comparrison im looking for. I did look at both the Marantz 6002 amp and CDP. But knowing that the Cambridge Audio is not as good as what I already have is a good pointer.

John

 

[the record spot]

I wouldn't write-off you current amp, even if it is 20 years old. Check out the source first and then try that, although if you're looking at a deal due to budget constraints then maybe. That could be a good amp though (I hear the Technics SU-V range is pretty highly regarded on a lot of the specialist Technics forums), so it might be worth a comparison against the CD player and new amp choices when you go to demo.

EDIT: ...and yes, the Cambridge gear at £300 is money wasted; a backwards step against some of your current gear, even if it is vintage.