The next step?


Recentley as the school year has been winding down I have had an urge to upgrade my system. I love my current set up but think its time to add something to the mixture. I will be moving out of my current apartment on May 14 and into my new one hopefully on the same day.

With saying this I should tell you what my system is. JM Lab 906 speakers 2 of them. Pioneer VSX-1014 that is being used to bi-amp (not bi-wire) the speakres), Samsung HD-841 sa/cd player that also is used for dvd's on time to time, Toshiba HD TV 32in(i think in that range), Monster Cable Refrence Interconnects for alot of the components. Have THX top end Digital cables for PS2 and cd play back on the hd-841. The current speaker cables are cheap they were 40 bucks for 12 ft or so and it has monster cable spades and banna clips. I also have a Defenetive Tech Pro SUB 80.

So what would the next logical step be? I think I want new speaker cable for the new apartment. But I dont have a clue what to get. I thought of Blue Jean cable and of Better Cable, and I went to a few of the local av stores and they said really for my speakers they would want to custom order cable taht was in the 5k range which I can not afford. But they wouldent show me anything else because they were being snooty. I went to tweeter and they showed me the Moster Cable Refrence speaker cable and I dont think thats what I want when I worked at circuit city i did not mind buying it because we got a huge discount on it.

Or maybe a power conditioner but I dont know if thats necessary at all or how big of a help it would be so any info here would be great too.

Another option is that I get a new CD player. I have looked at the local stores and the best that I could find was the new Rotel CD player that does HDCD with the Bur Brown DAC. I have looked alot on the net for a CD player too. I am very attracted to the Rega Planet org and the Rega Planet 2000 and also to the Music Hall 25 and the Jolida 601a and the new Jolida cd player. With these players I dont know if it is worth the extra cash to get the new version of the JOlida or the Rega Planet or to get the old version. Their is a very tempting Jolida 601 right now on the gon.

But my budget is 500 bucks max. I want to keep it as cheap as possible and get the best sound for my money. So can you guys help me out on what I should get next? I really think I want a cd player but I want to be sure first that it is better than the cd player on the HD-841.

My goal with this system is to have a good two ch listening system that I can enjoy far down the line and I want to keep it budget minded I am a college student. So far I have been able to work out amazing deals on all of my equipment. I worked for circuit city and I also had a friend at a high end av store that cut me a mad deal on my speakers right before they ended up closing shop because of a merger with another local hi-fi store that was not going to be able to sell JM lab because of contracts with other companies.

So you know what I like I listen to alot of blues and rock music. My room mate and I listen to alot of Clapton, Jack Johnson, BB King and that sort of stuff and also alot of rock music and when I have my girl friend over we listen to silver chair and her favorites of the grunge era.

So any help on helping me out would be great. Thanks yall I love audiogon and the information that you guys provide sorry for being long winded.
accorddude
For now get a CD player. Later get a pre/power amp combo. My advice is that $500 will get you a great CDP for the money but may be a little shy for a used pre/power setup.

Of course you could also count on selling the receiver should you decide to go the pre/power route immediately.

A great option for a CD player within your budget is to find a used Music Hall CD25, which usually runs $350-400, and upgrade the opamps, which would cost you somewhere between $50 and $150 depending on which ones you buy.

It's a simple do-it-yourself swap, about as complicated as changing a fuse. There are lots of other upgrades possible, from a number of different sources, but the opamp upgrade is very straightforward and makes a big difference in an already very, very good player.
A great CD player for the money is the tube output staged Jolida JD100. You can usually find one for a little more than $500.
Between the JD 100 and teh CD 25 which would you all get? Their are no local dealers around here so I have to trust you guys. I think I want to try tubes. What are the benefits and the cost of the JD 100? How does a stage 1 CD25 compare to it?
I don't have any experience with the Jolida but you probably can't go wrong with either. They both are players that are recommended by a lot of people whenever a question like yours is asked and even if someone does have experience with both, their preference may not be yours or their experience may be in a completely different system from yours and so not apply to your situation.

If you're intrigued with the idea of tubes, definitely go for the Jolida. There's no right or wrong answer to your question and you have to start somewhere. Just follow your curiousity and see what you think. A great thing about either of those players is that they will hold their value well and it won't cost much to experiment.
I got this little baby in the mail today. At first I had some problems with it setteling in with my system but now it is sounding quite nice. I did a little tube rolling today too from the stock chineese tubes to some 12AX7LPS tubes. Sounds good.