Hi Steve,
I had the same situation 5 months ago when I had DENON AVR-1601 which was good in HT but very muddy in music. I tried to change speakers to NHT and B&W but no luck. I decided to go for separates starting from a new power-amp (EAD PowerMaster 500), a new pre/pro (Kinergetics Chiro C-802). The result was much more musical. Then , in search of musical sound, I a separate DACs and CD trasport into my system which is very satisfied. But, you know, before I got the right DAC for my system I bought 3 DACs (ADCOM GDA-600, Theta Pro BasicII, and EAD 700MKII) to test with my system. Furthermore that I bought a Camelot Dragon 5.1 Jitter reduction. Then finally, got a EAD TM Signature to replace my existing Pre/Proc, DACS, Transport, and Jitter Reducer.
I've been buying more than 20 equipments within 5 month period. I just want to tell you that I can't stop upgrading my system anymore. Everytime I upgrade and it sounds better, I never satisfied enough to stop upgrading. It seem to me that anything would be better if I keep upgrading. Just want to ask you if you sure to come this way?
In case you really want to upgrade you system. My suggestion: If your CD player is good enough ( I mean the internal DAC in your CD Player), buy a good integrated amp (Classe, Rotel, or NAD) for separate music listening. Doing this way will save you a lot of money from upgrading to separates. Or if you have money to spend and want real quality, go for separates. Good luck.
Supakit S.
I had the same situation 5 months ago when I had DENON AVR-1601 which was good in HT but very muddy in music. I tried to change speakers to NHT and B&W but no luck. I decided to go for separates starting from a new power-amp (EAD PowerMaster 500), a new pre/pro (Kinergetics Chiro C-802). The result was much more musical. Then , in search of musical sound, I a separate DACs and CD trasport into my system which is very satisfied. But, you know, before I got the right DAC for my system I bought 3 DACs (ADCOM GDA-600, Theta Pro BasicII, and EAD 700MKII) to test with my system. Furthermore that I bought a Camelot Dragon 5.1 Jitter reduction. Then finally, got a EAD TM Signature to replace my existing Pre/Proc, DACS, Transport, and Jitter Reducer.
I've been buying more than 20 equipments within 5 month period. I just want to tell you that I can't stop upgrading my system anymore. Everytime I upgrade and it sounds better, I never satisfied enough to stop upgrading. It seem to me that anything would be better if I keep upgrading. Just want to ask you if you sure to come this way?
In case you really want to upgrade you system. My suggestion: If your CD player is good enough ( I mean the internal DAC in your CD Player), buy a good integrated amp (Classe, Rotel, or NAD) for separate music listening. Doing this way will save you a lot of money from upgrading to separates. Or if you have money to spend and want real quality, go for separates. Good luck.
Supakit S.