Upgrade advice and pointers required.

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I am thinking of looking into doing a small upgrade to my stereo kit. Current setup is Leema Pulse III amp, Audiolab 8200CD CDP and Monitor Audio RX6 speakers. Interconnects are of the Chord variety. I mainly play music from NAS and Sonos ZP90 connected into the Leema Pulse DAC and CD's through the Audiolab CDP but find i slightly prefer the sound through the NAS and Leema DAC. I do not intend to lose or change the CDP.

Based on the above, what could be the best pointers to look at for a single improvement to my sound setup?

Upgrade the speakers? If so to what? I have wondered about looking at the Monitor Audio RX8 or maybe even higher up the range.

Upgrade the amp?

Change the amp and get a Audiolab M-DAC?

Or even keep the amp but still get a Audiolab M-DAC?

Music tastes are Dire Straits, Caro Emerald. The Airborne Toxic Event, Imelda May, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac. Amy MacDonald. Melody Gardot, Adele, Tangeine Dream, Pink Floyd, Scissor Sisters, etc etc.

Bear in mind, I only want to do an upgrade which will make a definite improvement. I know sound is a personal thing but your ideas will help point me in the right direction to look in.

Thanks
 

caddyhound

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If you like the sound of the Leema Dac, then take a digital output from the Audiolab to the Leema and use the amp Dac thus using the Audiolab as transport only.Don't spend too much on the digital interconnect though.A separate Dac would be worth auditioning before you consider changing the components.Regards,David
 
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Hi Caddyhound,

Thanks for that. I should have said, I already do what you have suggested. I have the Audiolab CDP digitally connected to the Leema to use the Leema Pulse DAC.
 
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I have given this some more thought. I have decided to do an upgrade that will give a real noticeable improvement in my system. I don't want that sinking feeling when connecting a hopeful upgrade and then barely noticing the difference. I want something that makes me (and my wife) say 'Oh my God' and gives me goose bumps, eg when I play Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds and Richard Burton says 'No one would have believed that......'

Trouble is I don't want to spend more than £1000, so am wondering if adding the Leema DAC or Chord QuteHD DAC or even the Audiolab M-DAC will give me a significant improvement. Or perhaps £1000 isn't enough, if that's the case I will leave things as they are.

Or just leave everything as it is and just add the £1000 to whatever money I would get for my RX6's and upgrade the speakers only.

The more I think about it the more confused I am getting now. Any ideas?
 

hoopsontoast

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Yup, if you want a BIG change, go for the speakers.

Have a listen to other brands if you can, only going up in the MA range will not give you a massive change, just a slight refinement of the presentation.

£1k-£1.2k is a lot of dough for speakers. You could easily get some S/H or ExDemo Rega RS7's for that money.

The start to TWOTW, is quite a good test of vocal ability of speakers, the best I have heard that was on some 12" Tannoy Cheviots :dance: which are also well in budget.

scaled.php
 

markvh1

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Just listening to Melody Gardot and Madeleine Peyroux. Making me think, perhaps I don't need to upgrade after all. How can I improve on this sound? What would be the best thing to do?
 

RobinKidderminster

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You dont say what you are trying to acheive nor where you think there are deficiencies. Room treatment will do more for the sound of your system than any odd upgrade IMO.

Cheers
 

FennerMachine

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You have a £1500.00 amp with £750.00 speakers.

Try some different speakers.

Try different makes for a different sound.

For £1000.00 you might not get an 'upgrade' but you could get different, and if you prefer the 'different' then that's an upgrade in my book! If you do demo some speakers and prefer them I would suggest a home demo for a few days just to make sure. Some times speakers (and other kit) sound great in a demo then you get it home...
 

markvh1

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What could be good speakers to try with the amp and CDP to give a significant improvement? I don't know anything about forward sounding, soundstages and all that kind of thing?
 

FennerMachine

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You will get lots of suggestions.

Find some local Hi-Fi stores and see what they have and what they suggest.

Try to find one with similar/same kit to yours with a wide range of alternatives.

Remember, just because something is more expensive does not mean its better for YOU.

You might find something for a good price that does exactly what you want and not need to spend £1000.00.

If you don't like something rule it out.

If you like something put it on your possible list.

Take your time and enjoy!
 

markvh1

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Thanks for your comments. I think I might pop into Musicraft in Derby and see if I can have a listen to MA RX8, GX200, (maybe GX300 or PL200 if at right price ex demo or S/H). ATC SM40 Proac Response D18, or Spendour A5 or A6. Or anything that isn't too good for the amp. Narrow the choice down then try the selections on a home demo. If the final choice is more than a £1000 + what I can get for my MA RX6's, I'll wait until I can save the difference.
 

Macspur

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markvh1 said:
Thanks for your comments. I think I might pop into Musicraft in Derby and see if I can have a listen to MA RX8, GX200, (maybe GX300 or PL200 if at right price ex demo or S/H). ATC SM40 Proac Response D18, or Spendour A5 or A6. Or anything that isn't too good for the amp. Narrow the choice down then try the selections on a home demo. If the final choice is more than a £1000 + what I can get for my MA RX6's, I'll wait until I can save the difference.

Good idea... a good selection of speakers to choose from there... ProAc D18 would be my favourite.

Let us know how you get on.

Mac
 
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the record spot

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markvh1 said:
Just listening to Melody Gardot and Madeleine Peyroux. Making me think, perhaps I don't need to upgrade after all. How can I improve on this sound? What would be the best thing to do?

Then just leave it as it is.
 

RobinKidderminster

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Mordaunt Short 60day trial. Room treatment. What 'improvement' are you looking for? What do you not like? How big is yr room? Layout?

Whenever I have upgraded I have always felt I knew what I was looking for or missing. New speakers helped the flavour and bass trapping helped the separation, balance, SQ etc.
 

markvh1

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Room is the lounge with typical furnishing, sofa's, carpet and curtains etc. Room is 24x12 feet. I listen across the 12 ft width sat about in the middle of the 24 ft length. The speakers are about 9-10ft apart, pulled out from the wall so that the rear of the speakers are about 2 ft from the wall. I sit about 9-10 ft from the centre of the speakers.
 

RobinKidderminster

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(1) Sitting exactly half way down room is not ideal and the 12x24 is less than ideal - in both cases for standing waves. We cant change our rooms and mine is far worse than yours but a little experimentation may be worthwhile and some bass room treatment highly recommended.

What dont you like and what are you looking to acheive?

Cheers

PS I know nuffin'
 

markvh1

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Probably another daft question, but is their a general guide line for ratio of price of amp to price of speakers? If so what amount of money would be a guide line to spend on speakers as a ratio to the cost of the Leema Pulse III amp, costing about £1400 when it came out?

Thanks.
 

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