System upgrade

[Callum J]

Hello everyone.

This is my first post on this forum, and i need advice on a new system.

At present i have 20 year old (approximate) equipment - a Marantz CD 42 cd player, Musical Fidelity B1 amp, Yamaha KX390 casette player and Mission 760i speakers, all getting a bit tired. What would people suggest, equipment wise, to give me a modern good quality budget sound system, excluding a casette deck, with a total spend of no more than £800. The B1 amp is still a fine piece of equipment; should i keep it and build round it? All suggestions gratefully accepted.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Callum J

The CD42 and B1 in full working order please?

What genre of music do you listen to?

What areas of peformance are you looking to improve?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Callum J]

Hi Rick, thanks for the quick reply.

Yes, the Cd 42 still plays ok,though got a dodgy drive tray. The B1 stil plays great, but i get occasional distortion through the left Mission speaker (not sure is it amp or Speaker?)

I listen mostly to rock and blues, though have bits and pieces of other stuff.

I'm looking for more clarity, impact and a better soundstage.

Cheers...Callum.

 

[BigH]

You could try swapping the speakers over to see if its the speaker or amp. £800 is not a great deal I bet your old system cost nearly that 20 years ago?

 

[Callum J]

I think the B1 was about £200, back in the day....the rest i can't remember. I may stick with the B1 meantime and try a new Cd player plus speakers? Any opinions on what to partner the amp with?....maybe something either new or secondhand from Marantz, Nad, or Cambridge Audio? There are many other players, but a lot are very expensive. Would Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s be a good speaker option, or Tannoys, Mordaunt Short or Q Acoustics?

 

[BigH]

I like Marantz cdp have a look around maybe a 17KI. For speakers how about Dali Zensor 3s (£300) if you can afford them.

 

[Callum J]

I forgot to add that i have a small living room (4m x 4m) so will be mounting the speakers on brackets on the wall through lack of space. Will need speakers that are not too expensive and will work wall mounted.

 

[wilro15]

How about an all-in-one micro system? There are some very well regarded models around these days. Something like the Marantz M-CR610:http://www.whathifi.com/review/marantz-m-cr610

Then you have £300 to spend on speakers. You could get the highly regarded Q Acoustics 2020i for £150. Leaves you £150 for stands, cables and some new CDs to listen to!

 

[DocG]

I would keep the electronics and spend the whole budget on a pair of good speakers. If you plan to wall-mount them, the Guru Juniors come to mind. They are developped for use close to the wall, so should work at their best like that.

Not sure you have a dealer around though. You need to know if your amp drives them properly.

 

[audioaffair]

Hi Callum,

Welcome to the forum, to be honest, £800 is a good starting buget, however, it depends on how much you use the CD player, as you could also consider streaming?

Something like Arcam's A19 @ £649 would be a great replacement for the B1, leaving you some money left over for speakers (Dali Zensor 1's which are wall mountable)

Also, if you wanted to move up on the amplifier, Roksan do quite a nice amp called the Roksan Kandy K2, which would be a significant improvement on your B1.

In fact, they do a blue tooth version of this amp, which you could stream to for £895, which could sit at the heart of your system, give you streaming capability, and sit with your existing speakers, (you could always upgrade these later on)

Hope this helps!

 

[Callum J]

I have just looked at the Marantz M-CR610 all in one system, and have to admit it looks very tempting, and versatile. Apart from the Q Acoustics 2020i, what other similar speakers would work well wall mounted? Wharfedale Diamonds or Dalis maybe? I had thought of one of Marantz's recent CD players like the Cd 6002, 6003, and 6004,6005 or maybe a Nad. How would the Marantz M-CR610 compare to these Cd players? Don't know if i can afford to move up to the Arcam and Roksan options just now, brilliant as i'm sure they are. I really appreciate any advice from forum users.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Callum

Thanks for your reply and your welcome.

The B1 and the CD-42 are good products and it's good to hear that they are still (mostly) working and hopefully will still continue to do so for a some time to come. Hold on to them. Use the CD-42 for as long as you can as the player should also serve well as transport (I believe the CD-42 uses the Classic Philips CDM4 swing arm mechanism). I'll recommend adding a Rega DAC. I feel Rega's DAC will give you a worthwhile improvement in performance from your CD's and will also offer you the added flexibility of using other digital media.

As for speakers Monitor Audio's BX2 are also worth a look. The BX2's have a benign load, are front ported and relatively light in weight (which should help with wall mounting). The BX2's detailed, clean, fast, tight and punchy presentation should help with positioning close to walls.

Btw, trying swapping the your Mission speakers over, try another pair, try taking your amp and speakers to your local dealer. If you have no joy then contact Mission and Musical Fidelity to see if they can shed any light on this issue.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Callum J]

Hi folks.

At the moment i'm swaying in favour of the Marantz M-CR 610 all in one system with Q acoustics 2020i speakers, as it is so versatile, with streaming capabilities; as i find myself listening to more and more Spotify etc. But, if anyone can help me, will i be able to link up my current B1 amp to this system and play it through that? and also as i have a sizeable casstte collection gathered over the years, will i be able to play my Yamaha cassette player through the Marantz, or alternatively through the B1? As my room is so small, i don't think i can justify spending a lot of money on a high end system, but i think the Marantz will be a suitable compromise, and very useful.