Bought new speakers, should I upgrade my system?

[admin_exported]

Arcam CD73T

Rotel RA 971 MKII

Audio Physic Scorpio

DNM Solid Core Precision speaker cable

Nordost Solar Wind signal cable

I’m more of a music lover than a hi-fi connoisseur but since I spend a lot of time listening to music I want good sound. I appreciate overall musicality over “sterile” accuracy - I want my Ramones albums to sound great and alive as well as my Steely Dan stuff.

I have a feeling that my current amp / cd-player set up is not on par with my new speakers, which I got a very good deal on. I wouldn’t normally spend that kind of money on hi-fi gear.

What should I upgrade first amp or cd-player? I’ve been looking at products from Creek and Exposure.

 

[d_a_n1979]

Looking at that i'd stick with the Arcam CD player and upgrade the Amp.

Possibly looking at Cyrus 6v2 amp, Arcam Alpha 10 integrated off Ebay, Roksan Kandy Liii amp, or a Musicla Fidelity X-A1 or X-A2 off Ebay also.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="MusicLover"]
I have a feeling that my current amp / cd-player set up is not on par with my new speakers, which I got a very good deal on. I wouldn't normally spend that kind of money on hi-fi gear.

[/quote]

I'm a bit at a loss here ...

How much did you get your speakers for and what made you buy them?

 

[Thaiman]

[quote user="MusicLover"]Audio Physic Scorpio[/quote]

They deserve top qaulity electronics. It seem that Bel Canto products seem to gel very well with AP components. or another Germany's company like Audionet (I am so impress with Art V2 cd player but the Sam V2 amp is tad light in bass) would match well also.

 

[Anonymous]

Get rid of the Rotel - it's not a musical amplifier - however you have picked the right CD-player, to get pure musicallity upgrade to either an Arcam A70 or A85.

 

[John Duncan]

Cheesy peeps. Those speakers need a top notch amp - I agree that the CD player should be last to go as it reaches a certain level of quality, but the amp just isn't up to the job (imo). I love my Creek but not sure even it would be up to it - Primare i30 would be top of my list (but it wouldn't fit on my rack).

 

[Thaiman]

[quote user="JohnDuncan"]Primare i30 would be top of my list [/quote]

I would say that is the minimum requirement to get the best of AP....Is it mark 2 or 3?

 

[John Duncan]

No matter - as long as it's transparent with loads of power, since £multi-thousand speakers deserve it. I'd have had the A30.1 on eBay yesterday if they weren't too big.....

Roksan Caspian? Naim Supernait?

 

[Anonymous]

Blimey. Whatever you get, make sure you can take steps to upgrade as you go unless you can afford to buy top-end immediately, i.e. 1) bi-amp 2) sell the integrated and get the pre 3) mono-bloc. Primare I30 is where I would start with that in mind.

 

[JoelSim]

I would invest in a pre/power combo if it was my system. The benefits are manyfold, not including the pocket.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="drummerman"]

I'm a bit at a loss here ...

How much did you get your speakers for and what made you buy them?
[/quote]

I've been listening to them at the store for a couple of months and suddenly a pair were available for about 60% less than the listed price - the store is no longer an Audio Physic dealer and wanted to get rid of the last stock. I found it a hard to resist bargin and a long term "investment".

 

[drummerman]

I'm still waiting for a reply from you on why you bought the speakers which, even if you got them at a 'great deal' must have still cost a packet. Especially odd as you would'nt normally spend that much on HIFI!

So all this talk about buying multi thousand pound amplification/source etc etc seems rather ... well ... bizarre. I'm not disagreeing or otherwise with any of the suggestions, I have'nt got a clue as I've never heard the speakers but I think it perhaps would be a good idea to take a step back and think what you want to achieve.

Its an abyss and you're now playing with big boys toys with matching price tags. Great if you know what you're aiming for, potentially very expensive and disappointing if you dont. You need, as always, the help of a good dealer to give you as many options (not necesseraly expensive ones) as possible.

You might find that by selling your 'bargains' at a profit, you're able to put together a better balanced system, comprising quality components from source to speakers, altogether.

If you like your speakers, fair play. Yours the money ....

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="MusicLover"][quote user="drummerman"]
I'm a bit at a loss here ...

How much did you get your speakers for and what made you buy them?

[/quote] I've been listening to them at the store for a couple of months and suddenly a pair were available for about 60% less than the listed price - the store is no longer an Audio Physic dealer and wanted to get rid of the last stock. I found it a hard to resist bargin and a long term "investment".[/quote]

Just read your reply.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Drummerman, I appreciate (and agree) with your last post. I feel slightly out of depth here and want to avoid expensive mistakes. As I said I couldn't resist the bargin and had a sense of getting a really good pair of speaker that I wouldn't have to replace / upgrade in years - and (hopefully) would be able to use with gear I might save up to buy in the future. I hope I'm making sense?

PS. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Thaiman]

fwiw....the guy who bought my Audionet Sam V2 was using the AP and he is very happy with the combo, just a thought.