Advice for the Budget 'Phile


I recently acquired a Rega Planar 3 turntable and am looking to upgrade my amp and speakers to better take advantage of it. I have $800 to spend. I listen mostly to roots blues on vinyl and modern pop/rock on CD; this system will also be used for watching movies (so I need a flexible, all-around system). Below you will find my current choices. Any advice on them or alternatives to them would be appreciated.

Integrated Amp (puchasing use)
Creek 4330 (with added phono stage)
Rotel RA971
Cambridge Audio A500 (with added phono stage)

Speakers (used):
PSB Image 4t
NHT SuperTwo
Vandersteen 2C
(I'm not very confident about my speaker candidates; I'm tempted by monitor speakers by Paradigm, B&W, etc. but I don't want to lose good, musical bass reproduction).
Thanks.
shersta

Showing 1 response by psychicanimal

I'd go for the PSBs for video: fast, dynamic, open soundstage...For my video system I have Wharfedale Diamonds 7.1...can't stand bright speakers , especially on TV sound.
If you have a powerful amp and a reinforcing wall behind they'll deliver the bass. You can always add a subwoofer later...

Be advised the Cambridges are made in CHINA. It's an ISO 9002 factory, but still made in CHINA. Because of this fact, you will get a lot of audio for your $$$. Durability?
Don't know. I have a Cambridge D300 SE CDP and am extremely happy for what I paid for. Audio Advisor sell both brands, so they should be able to give you a good comparison.

To stretch your budget even more, goto this link:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/tweaks.html

Make some of your cables, stand and tweaks.

Good listening