Question Best bang for buck in upgrading not-so-good setup

[DomBalaguer]

Hello friends

I am new here and would like to ask you advice on improving my current setup. It will certainly by a tough challenge for you, due to not-so-good equipment I have now (result of poor research when I acquire it a few years ago) and limited budget (and opportunity to acquire new equipment, that occurs only on my occasional trips to US).

Now my receiver is a Harman Kardon AVR1510 (I also have a Pioneer VSX-822) with a pair of Bose 201 bookshelf speakers. The audio sources are a Pioneer DV2012-K for CDs, an Apple TV (connected on optical) for iTunes albums and an iPad (connected on USB) for Spotify.

The equipment is on my home office (9.8 ft vs 16.4 ft), with the speakers mounted (horizontally) on a shelf.

I am well aware that those equipment are not on a high regard for many of you and I certainly have no illusion of anything close to audiophile level with only a small upgrade, but I really like listening to music and would appreciate improving the quality of my current experience.

To illustrate a bit my daily use (including genres) and limited ambition on the improvement level I would like to achieve I share bellow my perceptions – from good to bad – on specific albums or songs.

I listen mostly jazz and prog-rock, and occasional classic and indie rock. The best quality listening experience are on some prog-rock CDs such as Rush (Power Windows, Show of Hands and Moving Pictures), Yes (especially more recent albums, like Union) and jazz CDs such as Chris Potter (Travelling Mercies).

A lot of jazz albums sounds just OK, like Nat Adderley (Work Song), Art Blakey (Moaning) and Pat Metheny (American Garage). Examples of mid-level quality prog albums are Genesis (Selling England by the Pound) and Pendragon (The Window of Life), especially the keyboards (a little distortion on middles).

The worst experiences are on albums such as King Crimson (Larks' Tongues in Aspic, especially the song Book of Saturday) and Brad Mehldau (Live in Marciac, especially the song Dat Dere). Those songs are ruined by distortion.

Now to the shopping list… I have a budget of around USD350-USD400 to be spent on a coming trip to US (hopefully, if Covid-19 allows). With this budget in mind, I have done some research and the current options are:

1. Change the receiver (eg. Cambridge audio AX A35; Yamaha A-S301BL; Onkyo A-9110)
2. Change the speaker (eg. Cambridge Audio SX60; Klipsch RP-500M; Q Acoustics 3020i; ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2)
3. Change the CD Player (eg. Yamaha CD-S300BL; TEAC CD-P650)
4. Add a Subwoofer (eg. Polk Audio PSW10)

With the budget I can choose 1 or 2 or (maybe) 3+4.

What are your thoughts? What investment would make the highest payback in my listening experience?

Thanks all for your insights and keep safe.

 

[jjbomber]

I'd start with the speakers.

Do the speakers have to be bookshelf? If you have room for floorstanders that should do away with the need for a subwoofer. Something like the Mission LX3 should suit. If it has to be bookshelf speakers, Dali Oberon 1s might be worth a look. Is it extra bass that you are loooking for?

Left of field, outside the box thinking. Sell the amp and speakers, buy a pair of Dynaudio Xeo2 active speakers. These have amplifiers built in, so won't need much room. RCA inputs for the CD, optical for Apple TV and Bluetooth for Spotify. They are end of the line now, so going cheap-ish. Still over budget, but worth it.

The trip to the US may have to wait a bit longer yet.

 

[DomBalaguer]

I'd start with the speakers.

Do the speakers have to be bookshelf? If you have room for floorstanders that should do away with the need for a subwoofer. Something like the Mission LX3 should suit. If it has to be bookshelf speakers, Dali Oberon 1s might be worth a look. Is it extra bass that you are loooking for?

Left of field, outside the box thinking. Sell the amp and speakers, buy a pair of Dynaudio Xeo2 active speakers. These have amplifiers built in, so won't need much room. RCA inputs for the CD, optical for Apple TV and Bluetooth for Spotify. They are end of the line now, so going cheap-ish. Still over budget, but worth it.

The trip to the US may have to wait a bit longer yet.

Thanks JJBomber
Yes, the speaker should be bookshelf... no room for floor standers. The Dali Oberon looks like a very good option indeed. Thanks for getting my attention to these. About the extra-bass, I don’t look for anything special. Just want a more vivid and real sound.
The Dynaudio is a tempting option. But, despite the price, does it really is a better option than a h/k receiver + Dali Oberon speakers?

 

[Al ears]

I'd agree about the speakers. Unfortunately none are going to work ideally in the position you have them. The last thing I would do is complicate matter with a subwoofer as you mention distortion and a subwoofer isn't going to cure that.
The Dalis are a good starting point.
I normally would look at both ends of a system and, if you think your Pioneer still has plenty of life in it then certainly the speakers are where you need to begin.

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Hello friends

I am new here and would like to ask you advice on improving my current setup. It will certainly by a tough challenge for you, due to not-so-good equipment I have now (result of poor research when I acquire it a few years ago) and limited budget (and opportunity to acquire new equipment, that occurs only on my occasional trips to US).

Now my receiver is a Harman Kardon AVR1510 (I also have a Pioneer VSX-822) with a pair of Bose 201 bookshelf speakers. The audio sources are a Pioneer DV2012-K for CDs, an Apple TV (connected on optical) for iTunes albums and an iPad (connected on USB) for Spotify.

The equipment is on my home office (9.8 ft vs 16.4 ft), with the speakers mounted (horizontally) on a shelf.

I am well aware that those equipment are not on a high regard for many of you and I certainly have no illusion of anything close to audiophile level with only a small upgrade, but I really like listening to music and would appreciate improving the quality of my current experience.

To illustrate a bit my daily use (including genres) and limited ambition on the improvement level I would like to achieve I share bellow my perceptions – from good to bad – on specific albums or songs.

I listen mostly jazz and prog-rock, and occasional classic and indie rock. The best quality listening experience are on some prog-rock CDs such as Rush (Power Windows, Show of Hands and Moving Pictures), Yes (especially more recent albums, like Union) and jazz CDs such as Chris Potter (Travelling Mercies).

A lot of jazz albums sounds just OK, like Nat Adderley (Work Song), Art Blakey (Moaning) and Pat Metheny (American Garage). Examples of mid-level quality prog albums are Genesis (Selling England by the Pound) and Pendragon (The Window of Life), especially the keyboards (a little distortion on middles).

The worst experiences are on albums such as King Crimson (Larks' Tongues in Aspic, especially the song Book of Saturday) and Brad Mehldau (Live in Marciac, especially the song Dat Dere). Those songs are ruined by distortion.

Now to the shopping list… I have a budget of around USD350-USD400 to be spent on a coming trip to US (hopefully, if Covid-19 allows). With this budget in mind, I have done some research and the current options are:

1. Change the receiver (eg. Cambridge audio AX A35; Yamaha A-S301BL; Onkyo A-9110)
2. Change the speaker (eg. Cambridge Audio SX60; Klipsch RP-500M; Q Acoustics 3020i; ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2)
3. Change the CD Player (eg. Yamaha CD-S300BL; TEAC CD-P650)
4. Add a Subwoofer (eg. Polk Audio PSW10)

With the budget I can choose 1 or 2 or (maybe) 3+4.

What are your thoughts? What investment would make the highest payback in my listening experience?

Thanks all for your insights and keep safe.

As your planning to go to the states id be very tempted to look at active speaker options from thes likes of sawn (these might be mail order only not sure) or klipisch, very affordable and have something for everybody's pocket and active is very popular in the states so must plenty of options in the stores and would certainly be the biggest bang for the buck and cuts down on boxes.

 

[Al ears]

As your planning to go to the states id be very tempted to look at active speaker options from thes likes of sawn (these might be mail order only not sure) or klipisch, very affordable and have something for everybody's pocket and active is very popular in the states so must plenty of options in the stores and would certainly be the biggest bang for the buck and cuts down on boxes.

One thing to bear in mind is the duty he will have to pay when taking these out of the country, and they are pretty difficult to carry...

 

[DomBalaguer]

thanks Al ears and Millennia_one for the great insights. The active speakers are really a good idea. I will do some research on those options. About duty, tax and carrying... it might be a challenge. Perhaps, in the end, this could be a deal breaker for the active speakers in comparison to the regular ones.

And I will try the Pioneer as a substitute for the H/K and see if there is any significant difference. Today, this Pioneer is working with a pair of in-ceiling Polk RC60i and only a Apple TV as audio input... I must say this setup does not impress me very much as well.

I am quite sure the Bose 201 are the week link here, and perhaps the Pioneer will not help much... But, as far as I have read, Pioneer seems superior to H/K, right?

 

[Deleted member 116933]

One thing to bear in mind is the duty he will have to pay when taking these out of the country, and they are pretty diff to carry...

That would be a problem to overcome for sure on both counts

 

[DomBalaguer]

That would be a problem to overcome for sure on both counts

usually it is a solvable problem... all those equipment (H/K, Bose and Pioneer) were acquired at US and brought here as checked baggage, inside my luggage - custom duties are a problem for stuff above USD500.