Where to start?

[Bigun]

Hi I'm new here and am looking for some advice on where to start upgrading my current system.

Back ground first

Having been a huge home cinema fan during the late 90's early 2000's, I still own a Yamaha DSP-A2 and full set of B&W DM600 series speakers, the amp and DM603's have been used for listening to music for over 10 years via an old Denon 635 CD player (no longer working) and more recently via a headphone jack to RCA from my iPad/iPhone.

Well at xmas my Mrs brought me a Pro-ject Debut Carbon turntable, something I had been toying with buying for a year or so as I still own a fair bit of vinyl from when I was a student, wanted something to play it on and love the process of listening to vinyl, digital music is such a impersonal thing.

Anyway after running the turntable through the A2 and DM603's for the past month and loving the new detail I'm hearing in my music, I am now wanting more. I love the warmth of the sound I'm getting but the bass could be deeper. The detail is there, now i'm hearing things that I hadnt heard before but I want more, far more. The soundstage (is that the right term) is alright but I feel it could have more depth, more feeling, be richer. I dont fully understand or appreciate all the correct terminology so please forgive me.

Basically I'm looking to upgrade but where do I start? My head says Amp first, obviously the Yammy amp isnt best suited for stereo listening and maybe upgrading the amp will answer a few of my issues, but then once I do that am I going to have to upgrade my speakers aswell? They are nearly 20 years old and have been through several moves and slightly fewer wives/girlfriends.

Oh and the important thing budget! I havent got an unlimited fund to dip into, maybe £300/500max fo the amp. Am i safe looking at second hand amps and if so which ones are worth looking at. I learnt when I was into HC that listening to what youre going to buy is very important but with my current speakers recreating my system in a shop is going to be very difficult and if I buy secong hand even more so.

Any questions or advice fire away.

Cheers

 

[hg]

So long as it is still functioning correctly it is hard to see a case for replacing what looks to be a good solid amplifier. I would suggest waiting until it starts misbehaving before looking for a replacement.

£300-500 is not enough to purchase signficantly better speakers unless you get very lucky in the second hand market.

A decent subwoofer would fit the budget, deliver deeper bass and, perhaps more importantly, remove some of the displacement from you current speakers and help clean up the sound.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Hi,
I think you should give yourself a bit more time to allow for a bigger budget if you want significant improvement over your old set up.
In terms of upgrading I would start with the amplifier first with a budget of around 1k and than look for suitable speakers to match the amp.
BW 600 series are very good speakers I had a pair of 601 s1 for 20 years, so yes with those bw's I would definitely start with the amp.
If you are happy buying 2nd than £500 is good budget.
However, if you do a bit of research and make a short list of amps that you would like to get within the price range of say £600-750 for example Rotel ra12, arcam fmj a19, creek evolution 50a, rega brior etc than do a demo and see if you can find a exdisplay or exdem of 1 you want. This is how I buy my hifi kit.
With xdisplay/exdem you always get more for your money with the gaurantee.
Hope that helps.

 

[Bigun]

So long as it is still functioning correctly it is hard to see a case for replacing what looks to be a good solid amplifier. I would suggest waiting until it starts misbehaving before looking for a replacement.

£300-500 is not enough to purchase signficantly better speakers unless you get very lucky in the second hand market.

A decent subwoofer would fit the budget, deliver deeper bass and, perhaps more importantly, remove some of the displacement from you current speakers and help clean up the sound.

sorry I forgot to say I'm planning on keeping the yammy amp and using it solely for tv/movies then buying (budget permitting) a set of satellite speakers to run off it, the stereo amp will only be for the TT and b&w's. I'll probably need a sub to reinforce the satellites aswell. Sounds like sound advice and wouldn't cost the earth either. Cheers hg

Hi, I think you should give yourself a bit more time to allow for a bigger budget if you want significant improvement over your old set up. In terms of upgrading I would start with the amplifier first with a budget of around 1k and than look for suitable speakers to match the amp. BW 600 series are very good speakers I had a pair of 601 s1 for 20 years, so yes with those bw's I would definitely start with the amp. If you are happy buying 2nd than £500 is good budget. However, if you do a bit of research and make a short list of amps that you would like to get within the price range of say £600-750 for example Rotel ra12, arcam fmj a19, creek evolution 50a, rega brior etc than do a demo and see if you can find a exdisplay or exdem of 1 you want. This is how I buy my hifi kit. With xdisplay/exdem you always get more for your money with the gaurantee. Hope that helps.

thx, think I need to sit down and work out a budget, but first I'm going to read up about the amps you mention and get a feeling for what's available. This isnt going to be a fast exercise, lol.

 

[Bigun]

The Rega is more what I had in mind, striped down with as much as my money as possible going into sound, but the Rotel offers move functionality I hadn't considered bluetooth connection at all.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

The Rega is more what I had in mind, striped down with as much as my money as possible going into sound, but the Rotel offers move functionality I hadn't considered bluetooth connection at all.

Rotel will be more suitable for the BW'S it also offers more for money, but make sure u do demos before u pull the trigger.
Another tip: always call few dealers and haggle, there's no harm in asking.

 

[Bigun]

The Rega is more what I had in mind, striped down with as much as my money as possible going into sound, but the Rotel offers move functionality I hadn't considered bluetooth connection at all.

Rotel will be more suitable for the BW'S it also offers more for money, but make sure u do demos before u pull the trigger. Another tip: always call few dealers and haggle, there's no harm in asking.

Thx again for your advice
*biggrin*