need to upgrade hifi need advice please

[admin_exported]

hiya i have been thinking about upgradeing my hifi but where do i start? this is what i have got allready

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CD PLAYER AZUR 640 C

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AMP 640 A

MORDAUNT SHORT 904 SPEAKERS (floor standers

PROJECT 3 TURNTABLE

never been to impressed with this amp since i brought it or is this the speakers i,m running i feel like selling both and getting better bits of kit something allways seems flat too me and i have too turn the amp right up when playing records? looking too buy some better kit so what do think i could really do with some help please. also i need a decent rack as well , i dont mind 2nd ebay ect and my budget for cd and amp is around £1000 . also advise on biwireing ? is it worth it or just waste of money thanks pete

 

[Anonymous]

Bear in mind that amps need a special 'phono' socket (with a
additional phono stage/amp either inside or as an add on) to play
turntables.

Does your current amp have one? If not you would
certainly have to turn the volume control up pretty far to listen to
it. Cambridge do sell a separate phono stage that I presume could be
used with any amp.

It seems to me that Cambridge are pretty well rated at their respective price points, and you generally have to pay a fair bit more for anything better.

Richers are doing the Ca 740 A and C combo with Kef iQ5. If I was spending £1000 on a whole new system I would likely go for that.

Next step up would for me would be Cyrus, and some dealers are doing offers that would get you a CD and Amp for £1000 giving you the option of continuing with your current speakers or paying e.g. £300 for the iQ5s.

On the other hand you might want to check out improved cables before ditching your system...

 

[Anonymous]

well you have a good amplifier there and the CD player is well matched with it, clearly, but I don't know much about that model.

I would be looking at your speakers... and possibly a power amp to stick on top of your integrated. I think CA do a power amp for the 640 but I'm not sure. But if you want more wham bam and rog-ma-jam then I'd get some extra juice and some phatter floorstanders than you have currently. Now a lot of people here seem to swear by B&W speakers with their 640A , so have a look at their DM603's you should be able to get them for about £500 or so. I'd think it'd be better for other people to suggest a power amplifier though coz I have no idea except for 'look at CA power amps'. You could probably even get my speakers with enough change from a grand for a power amp off of ebay I saw a pair the other day for about 500 quid but a day left.

Although I can't speak for how well they would suit your amplification, they do rock, I guess you could always bung an 8000p on your 640 and use them..

Oh one other thing, remember that if you get a power amp to use with your 640A, then you would probably also gain the option of Bi-amping, which I would definitely do. I would use your 640 for the treble and your power amp to handle the bass. That way the big power draws bass needs are well away from your pre-amplifier.

 

[Anonymous]

Forgot to say that when I upgraded to Cyrus I kept running it through similarly priced Mordaunt short speakers and still noticed a huge improvement.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for that i take it you can add a ca power amp on to my ca 640c amp then? i think i will start with the speakers then

thanks for your help everyone

 

[Anonymous]

cambridge audio do not do a power amp for the 640 amp. i asked them about a month ago. i have an Arcam p75 power amp which goes very well with the cambridge. It has been discontinued though but i am sure there are some kicking about cheap. As for the turntable, the 640 does not have a phono input so you need a separate phono stage.

as for upgrading, i would start with the speakers. B&W 685's might be worth a listen.I have just bought a set of monitor audio RS1's for my system and i have the same amp as you. They are excellent. I replied in your other post and suggested that maybe you upgrade your amp and cd player within the cambridge audio range.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for that fraziel never had standmonts before would prefer floorstanders any ideas? please

 

[Anonymous]

I am no techie, but i thought the accepted wisdom was that pre and power amps should be carefully matched from a single manufacturer?

If you check re the pre/ower sections of the WHF buyers guide many of them mention matching products.

I would have thought that was particularly important if you are looking to bi-amp, where you might have quite different sound character and output levels going to your tweeter and your woofer??

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Yellow Kid"]
I am no techie, but i thought the accepted wisdom was that pre and power amps should be carefully matched from a single manufacturer?

If you check re the pre/ower sections of the WHF buyers guide many of them mention matching products.

I would have thought that was particularly important if you are looking to bi-amp, where you might have quite different sound character and output levels going to your tweeter and your woofer??

[/quote]

In an ideal world they should be but there is no hard and fast rule that says that they have to be.The output level is controlled by my azur integrated which i use for the tweeters. Maybe i have just been lucky as i had the p75 prior to buying my azur and when i linked them up they worked very well together. Far better sound than i get from integrated alone and no problem with different sound character or output levels.

 

[Anonymous]

Fair enough, but thought it was as well to add a note of caution.

 

[gregory]

get yourself a cambridge 640p phono amp for £60.00,you will notice a difference straight away and then you will hear what your speakers are capable of.