In need of advice. I have been into audio for about 10 yrs and I read all the audio mags(stereophile,audio,what hifi) I just can't make a dicission in reguards to anything. That is why I have such a low budget system plus I couldn't justify spending a lot of money on something I wasn't sure would please me. I , chose to go with Adcom because it's afordable and the audio stores always spoke highly of Adcom and the research I did on Adcom components made me feel confident about them. My complaints are that the music seems closed in ,too bright, and to harsh for my sensitive ears. Any advice on what I should upgrade next would be appreciated. I haven't been to this website in a while but i would like to add a couple of things. I had auditioned a Acurus RL11 pre-amp several years back. I didn't like it because i couldn't handl'e the forwardness it seems to produce.
After reading all the reviews at audio review i thought that it might be to truthful and that either my front end or amp(the piece of crap that it was)was the problem and that if i changed one of these i would be very happy with the Acurus. At that point i got very frustrated because I didn't have the money to buy a new amp or cd player. If anyone has any advice on what i should do next your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I havent been to this part of audiogon in about 4-5yrs but I just purchased a Rotel Int. amp and I am displeased with the sound. I was reading reviews for it on audioreview and saw one review that said the sound seemed distorted at anything above a fourth of the way up on the volume. This is one thing I noticed too. It also seems to have a slighty to moderately forward presentation.Not as ear fatiguing as the acurus RL-11 but enough to notice.
Enough of me complaining, this is what I do want. I want good tight bass, mabye slighty sweet treble,a noticable midrange without being too noticable. It can't be lean or thin sounding and it can't do what the rotel does when I turn up the volume. Also I'd prefer not to get anything with tubes.
I listen to all sorts of music with rock being primary although I do like some classical.
My budget is $600 and $900. Ive been looking at the Sim i5080 for a few days now. Some people say the MFA3 or 3.2 is a good choice too. Also the Plinius(various different models) but I don't think those are in my budget. Anyways any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
System edited: Just bought a NAD amp and Acurus pre. Need help in deciding what to do to my system next. I thought of upgrading the speakers, getting a sunfire sub, adding a high quality DAC, getting a better cd player and I plan on getting better cables and power cords. I'm just not sure what I should do next. Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.
Previous comments are all good. Adcom is bright. I would suggest following the English philosophy and place most of the weight on the front end of the system. You can keep the carosel, but add an external DAC (if you have a digital out) which will open up the sytem tremendously. An MSB or Assemblage for $200 used will do wonders. Or purchase a less bright player. Place brass cones under the player. Remember, no matter what you do after the source, the failings of the source cannot be corrected. The reasonably priced tube preamp suggestion is also good. That will somewhat tame the amplifier. Don't use silver connections in this system.
I've had the Q30s before, along with other kef speakers, currently using the 103/4. They are very sensitive speakers. Before, I had great results using an NAD cd player with a Nakamichi receiver with the 30s. In your system, I think the Adcom equipment is too harsh. It might be better if you switched to other speakers that are not as sensitive to the amp and cd player such as NHT, Energy, or Paradigms. If you chose to keep the kefs, I would start by adding a high quality preamp and negate the volue controls on the gcd700. The variable output slightly compresses the dynamics. Second, get somce cheap ac cords for the amp and for the cd play if possible. Lat international ac2 at 120 each is a very good cable for your amp.
Get an Accuphase integrated amplifier - the E-210 or the newer 211. It is reasonably priced especially used and sounds and looks great in it gold/champagne finish.It will not be bright and gives a natural sound without fatigue over long listening periods. I have one in my office puhing Martin Logan Aerius speakers.
Either that, or get a great vintage tube preamp. If you don't need remote, there are killer deals ($400 or less) on Sonic Frontiers SFL-1's out there, and that is a great upgrade. Or a Melos SHA-Gold (probably set you back 700 or so) -- which has remote. I've owned both of these, and they are tremendous sounding pieces of equipment. I've always run them with solid state amps and they really smooth out the sound.
I have owned Adcom gear in the past. Adcom can be quite bright, with a grainy midrange. If you want to take some of this brightness out, without major upgrades, try copper interconnects and speaker cables instead of silver plated. If it's in your budget, I'd suggest trying Harmonic Technology. The Truthlinks and all of their speaker cables have a nice warm sonic signature that might give you what you're looking for.
