This is a hypothetical question (for the time being), but I'm hoping it will help to stimulate some useful discussion about upgrading from budget systems which will be useful for lots of people reading the forums.
My current set-up is a very good budget system. It all works well together and makes an enjoyable sound overall. There is plenty of power and the system is balanced so that the NAD's propensity towards being on the bassy side is counterbalanced by the other components. Simple acoustic music sounds excellent as does rock music. Orchestral music works well when it isn't too complex, but in the climaxes of a Symphony or Concerto the soundstage can start to dissolve and things can become a little ragged. Vocal re-production is fantastic.
It would be interesting to hear people's thoughts on what the next step would be. I suspect the speakers have more to give, but would you start by upgrading the source to something like the Marantz SA KI-Pearl Lite SACD/CD player, Cyrus CD6SE.2, NAD C546BEE or Audiolab 8200CD, or would you go for a change of amp instead - Roksan K2, Marantz PM KI-Pearl Lite, or Cyrus 6XP? Alternatively would anyone go for a change of speakers instead? Would the NAD cope?
Remember this is hypothetical for now but should be an interesting and useful conversation anyway...
My current set-up is a very good budget system. It all works well together and makes an enjoyable sound overall. There is plenty of power and the system is balanced so that the NAD's propensity towards being on the bassy side is counterbalanced by the other components. Simple acoustic music sounds excellent as does rock music. Orchestral music works well when it isn't too complex, but in the climaxes of a Symphony or Concerto the soundstage can start to dissolve and things can become a little ragged. Vocal re-production is fantastic.
It would be interesting to hear people's thoughts on what the next step would be. I suspect the speakers have more to give, but would you start by upgrading the source to something like the Marantz SA KI-Pearl Lite SACD/CD player, Cyrus CD6SE.2, NAD C546BEE or Audiolab 8200CD, or would you go for a change of amp instead - Roksan K2, Marantz PM KI-Pearl Lite, or Cyrus 6XP? Alternatively would anyone go for a change of speakers instead? Would the NAD cope?
Remember this is hypothetical for now but should be an interesting and useful conversation anyway...