HiFi upgrade 3 components for £1k(ish)

[admin_exported]

My current trusty system dates back to 1992/3 and includes:
Yamaha CDX-550E CD Player

Mission DAC5 DAC

Nad 302 Integrated Amp

Mission 760iSE speakers

Atacama SE24 stands

It all still works ok but I've recently come to the conclusion that an upgrade is long overdue and was hoping for some ideas for replacement components spending roughly £300ish on each of the main components.

I know that the Rotel RA 05 is well regarded as an amp (and will likely be on my list to audition) but having been "out of the hifi loop" for so long I'm without any idea for anything else.

As far as speakers go, I suppose I would have been thinking bookshelf and hadn't really considered floor-standing speakers since I thought that decent ones would elude my proposed budget (?) and I'm clueless for a CD player!

The room for set-up is a fairly high-ceiling (old house) with wooden floors, if that helps. All advice, guidance greatfully received! TIA.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, the Rotel is definitely an amp to consider, along with the Cambridge Audio Azur 540A V2 and the Pioneer A-A6-J.

For CD players, I'd suggest not doing very much if the Yamaha is still working well as a transport: the DAC5 was and is still a very good converter, and I'd listen long and hard to other machines before spending the money. Players I'd consider would be the Pioneer PD-D6-J or the Audiolab 8000CD, especially if you can find an ex-demo deal on the latter.

Speakers? Well, there are some very good floorstanders out there if your room if big enough for them: think along the lines of Mordaunt-Short's MS914s (£250/pr) or at a slightly higher level KEFiQ5s or Monitor Audio Bronze BR5s, at about £400/pr. In the standmount arena, consider Epos M5s or Monitor Audio Silver RS1s, each at about £350/pr. They'll work fine on your Atacamas, provided the stands are mass-loaded.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for your guidance, Andrew.

Interesting to hear what you said about the cd player and DAC. That DAC5 probably looks like a strange fit in amongst what is budget kit; I inherited that from someone and decided to put it to use! Retaining that and upgrading only the amp and speakers could increase my per-budget component although my other half seems to want us to go all silver :|

As for the speakers: the room is not particularly small nor large really. It is a bay-windowed open plan living room/kitchen in an old house (with wooden floors). So I was wrong to rule out floorstanders?

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="norliss"]As for the speakers: the room is not particularly small nor large really. It is a bay-windowed open plan living room/kitchen in an old house (with wooden floors). So I was wrong to rule out floorstanders?[/quote]

Not at all - I reckon the floorstanders I suggested will work very well in such a room.