About six months ago, I caught the audio bug from a friend and neighbour, at which point I decided to upgrade a few components. However, I'm on a budget and so my kit is fairly modest. The NAD integrated amp and tuner, the Kef Q5's and the Monster power bar, purchased last Fall, brought my system to what I feel is introductory-level hi-fi. In January, I added the van den Hul interconnects, which were a noticeable improvement.
The CD player is currently the weak link IMO. I've been thinking that the NAD C-541i would be the best way to go, given budget concerns, a number of good reviews and a top-place finish in a What Hi-Fi? comparison with units from Arcam, Rotel, Rega, Marantz, Sony and Roksan. There's also the Shanling CD-S100, which I believe may be the same machine as the Music Hall CD-25 (although I've asked for advice on this in a thread on the Digital page here at Audiogon).
Also, I'm really tempted to find out if the merits of bi-amping are for real, with the addition of the NAD C-270.
Finally, although I said the cd player may be the weak link, the speaker cable is also vying for that title. I'm interested in the van den Hul CS-122, a 12-gauge silver coated OFC cable with a layer of carbon fibre that I've heard good things about.
Congratulations dude! No matter what anyone tells you, the biggest improvement in sound quality comes from proper speaker positioning. Once youve got that done you can move on to bigger and better things.
check out this link: http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=MHMMF25&product_name=MMF%20CD-25%20HDCD%2024/96%20CD%20Player It isnt an upsampling player the T100 is.
the music hall doesnt have upsampling either. I saw a website that incorrectly placed that in their ad. I own the Music Hall mmf cd25 and nope no upsampling.
