Upgrade advice please

[stuartybass]

For the last few years I've been mainly listening to music via iTunes/Desktop PC/Studiodock 3i's.

With the advent of Airplay, I wanted to start listening via my old hifi in another room, which consists of an NAD C320 amp and Kef Cresta 2 speakers. I've connected an Airport Express via a Fiio D3 DAC. Most tracks are encoded at 256kbps.

However, my initial reaction to my old hifi has been dissapointment - I was expecting more! There is good detail and accuracy, but somehow the sound seems to "sit back" in the speakers, with a lack of character or intimacy. This improves when I increase the volume, but I feel I shouldn't be having to do that to the extent I am.

Perhaps I am just too used to my Desktop setup - the Studiodocks have a lovely intimate and focussed character to vocals.

The hifi is in quite a large bay windowed room. The speakers are on Atacama stands and I have tried various positions. Musical tastes are vocalists in general, country, jazz, reggae, soul, pop. Not very much guitar-based rock and no classical.

Assuming there are no technical problems, am I basically looking for an upgraded system and if so, where would I start? I don't have a budget in mind, but I would be prepared to pay significantly more than today's equivalent of my amp and speakers.

I would be grateful for any thoughts.

Stuart

 

[Overdose]

http://www.dynaudio.com/int/xeo/XEO_Xeo3.html

http://www.avihifi.co.uk/adm9.html

Plug in the Apple Airport Express via optical out and off you go!

 

[ID.]

Not familiar with your kit, but presuming you can do it for not cost (i.e. if you've ripped from CDs rather than downloaded from iTunes), the first thing I'd do is play tracks encoded at a higher rate (preferably lossless). While 256 sounds pretty good, especially on the go, I find it sounds a bit flat through a stereo.

 

[stuartybass]

Thank you.

I'll make a confession to audiophiles, but many years ago, before I started ripping my CDs, I did a genuinely blind test with different bitrated tracks burned to CDs on my current system and compared them to the original CD. I couldn't distinguish any difference beyond 192 kbps!

What I have currently is a budget system, so I'd assume that buying say, the Rega DAC for £500, would be disproportionate unless I also upgraded my amp and speakers too.

An alternative is Overdose's recommendations - an "all-in-one" upgrade, which sounds attractive, although I'm not familiar with powered speakers apart from my Studiodocks, which I like very much as near-field speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.dynaudio.com/int/xeo/XEO_Xeo3.html

http://www.avihifi.co.uk/adm9.html

Plug in the Apple Airport Express via optical out and off you go!

Seconded. Not only considerably better value than equ separates, but you will have a much neater solution. I've never looked back from getting AVI ADM9.1Ts.

 

[gregvet]

Not familiar with your kit, but presuming you can do it for not cost (i.e. if you've ripped from CDs rather than downloaded from iTunes), the first thing I'd do is play tracks encoded at a higher rate (preferably lossless). While 256 sounds pretty good, especially on the go, I find it sounds a bit flat through a stereo.

Jinx!

I wrote almost exactly this post last night but safari crashed before I could post it.

Try some of the same music ripped lossessly from cd in your current system before upgrading anything. If that sounds no better then I would start with the dac, something like the rega dac ought to make quite a difference.

 

[stuartybass]

What about the Audioengine A5+ ? A halfway house between the Studiodocks and the AVI speakers?