Upgrade advice for my old system

[martimu]

I'm disticinctly out of touch with where I need to pitch an upgrade on my old kit having focused on the HIFI for years

So current kit ,which I bought when I left the industry some 10 years ago:

Pioneer 436 xde

Denon 3802

KEF 2005.2 ( have different KEF sub now but essentially the same)

I'll probably stick with the speakers as I have large hifi ones and the missus won't have anything bigger on the AV front

I want to change the amp first as I'm sick of the cable nest and would like HD audio from my BluRay

My amp retailed for about £1k new. Where would I be pitching now price wise to match my speakers and get a sound improvement. I'll need a model that would take a screen upgrade in the next couple of years so perhaps 4k compatible?

Having liked the Denon would something the X2000 be better/as good on the normall DD and DTS? I'm assuming the HD would be better?

I have a similar issue with the plasma as the screen still looks great I'm thinking that I'd need a fairly hefty chunk to get a majpr improvement in this area.

Any thoughts/input would be great.

thanks

Martin

 

[emperor's new clothes]

Hi Martin,

Just been through the process myself. Needed to replace a Pioneer Ax5ai - 9 years old and no HDMI. Settled for Marrantz Sa7007 and UD7007 combo and it sounds so good that I swapped my B&W 602S3 fronts for elderly but revealing MA studio 20se from my hifi system. Ditched 7.1 for 5.0 - subs now in its box and bi-amped the MAs. Dug out some little used SACDs and wow -it makes my hifi redundant. The detail from HD Blu rays is several steps up from the Pioneer and dialogue from mumbling actors suddenly clear and distinct from the sound effects. The Marrantz is allegedly a Denon 3313 twin so you will be safe with the new X2000. I have a Pioneer TV too and the rest will catch up one day! Got a very big discount on both from SSAV. To my ears the Marrantz bettered the latest Pioneer amps which were too bright and potentially fatiguing. The Audessy set up is superb - technology moves on.

 

[martimu]

Hi Martin,

Just been through the process myself. Needed to replace a Pioneer Ax5ai - 9 years old and no HDMI. Settled for Marrantz Sa7007 and UD7007 combo and it sounds so good that I swapped my B&W 602S3 fronts for elderly but revealing MA studio 20se from my hifi system. Ditched 7.1 for 5.0 - subs now in its box and bi-amped the MAs. Dug out some little used SACDs and wow -it makes my hifi redundant. The detail from HD Blu rays is several steps up from the Pioneer and dialogue from mumbling actors suddenly clear and distinct from the sound effects. The Marrantz is allegedly a Denon 3313 twin so you will be safe with the new X2000. I have a Pioneer TV too and the rest will catch up one day! Got a very big discount on both from SSAV. To my ears the Marrantz bettered the latest Pioneer amps which were too bright and potentially fatiguing. The Audessy set up is superb - technology moves on.

Cheers seems like it would not be a sideways step which is my main concern!

Have to say the 6007 did catch my eye as a potential option but wondered if it would be overkill for the little KEF's.

The Pioneers were sharper then when i bought the Denon way back then too. Very interested by your comments on the speach clarity as it is this that is my biggest bugbear.

I'm vinyl and valves on the hi fi so will be keeping it seperate, but the TV does get a hefty amount of use and thinking that it is time to put the new technology to the test!

By the way is there a way to get notifications when I get a response on my thread - can't seem to see one.

Thanks

Martin

 

[themovierooms]

Hi Martimu,

I always found the Yamaha amplifiers worked very well with the Kef speakers. The new offerings from them also have a "dialogue lift" function which really helps with speech clarity.