Hi, I'm in the process of re-organising my system and wondered if anyone could suggest the most cost efficient uprgade I could make with a budget of between £200 and £500.
Currently my sources are a Cambridge CD640v2 CD player, Pure DRX 701SE DAB tuner and my Toshiba laptop playing Itunes (320kbps and lossless) via a USB soundcard. All of these are connected to a Beresford DAC and then to a Harmon Kardon HK620 amp (good in it's time, apparently...). QED Silver Anniversary speaker cables bi-wired to Monitor Audio B2's and my interconnects are a mix of IXOS 103, 104 and QED QNECT2.
I've also just bought a PS3 and would love to make the most of the surround sound options but am wary of an AV amp. Would something on the level of the Onkyo 606 av amp match my current amp for musicality or could it possibly surpass it? (The HK620 cost around £250 in 1994 if I remember correctly).
I've also seen some Arcam Alpha 10 amps with the 5.1 upgrade on ebay for around £250 and thought this might be a possible upgrade path, although I realise this wouldn't make the most of Blu-rays abilities.
As you can see, I have the feeling that my amp is the weak link in my system and the question is whether to settle for a stereo amp or go for a surround sound one, or maybe the Arcam route.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Currently my sources are a Cambridge CD640v2 CD player, Pure DRX 701SE DAB tuner and my Toshiba laptop playing Itunes (320kbps and lossless) via a USB soundcard. All of these are connected to a Beresford DAC and then to a Harmon Kardon HK620 amp (good in it's time, apparently...). QED Silver Anniversary speaker cables bi-wired to Monitor Audio B2's and my interconnects are a mix of IXOS 103, 104 and QED QNECT2.
I've also just bought a PS3 and would love to make the most of the surround sound options but am wary of an AV amp. Would something on the level of the Onkyo 606 av amp match my current amp for musicality or could it possibly surpass it? (The HK620 cost around £250 in 1994 if I remember correctly).
I've also seen some Arcam Alpha 10 amps with the 5.1 upgrade on ebay for around £250 and thought this might be a possible upgrade path, although I realise this wouldn't make the most of Blu-rays abilities.
As you can see, I have the feeling that my amp is the weak link in my system and the question is whether to settle for a stereo amp or go for a surround sound one, or maybe the Arcam route.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!