My very budget system, comprised of items that I've gotten for free. I'll be buying the Sapphires some time around christmas, hopefully, from "donations" from various family members. Anyone have any other suggestions for improvements?
Actually the SLD2. Cheap anyway, and I got it for free.
Pioneer Pioneer VSX-D901s
Great receiver. It doesn't have dolby digital or DTS but manages to make a very clean 2 channel sound, with very little distortion.
RCA RP-8070
Looking for a better CD player, but it seems to do a better job than my Pioneer Laser Disc, so I use it. Definitely a good bargain.
Pioneer Laser Disc player
I'm not entirely sure of the model, but it's a very nice player with good picture and decent sound. Again, got it for free, so I'm happy with the deal I got.
Well, I ordered a Cambridge D500SE off of A'gon..., let's see how it works out. I've heard of some reliability issues, and people have told me it sounded thin, but the system right now is "lush" so I don't think that will be much of an issue. Anyway, it'll be better than the RCA in all ways.
My first priority is the source. I don't know what your budget is but I would look into a Cambridge Audio, Arcam, or Adcom for a cd player. Speaker cables is not much of priority to me at least. If your looking for cables, I would consider the Dayton Audio at PartsExpress. Their the same quality, or if not, better than the high-price cables at fraction of the cost. Alfredo
Right now I'm looking at purchasing an improved digital source for my system. Maybe the Cambridge D500SE or the Marantz 6000OSE or 67SE. Anyone have any suggestions for other things in that price range I might like to check out?
I forgot to mention, I'm looking at upgrading to something like, perhaps, a Marantz 6000SE CD player and a NAD C350 integrated amplifier for 2 channel. I'm in college now, so I can't really afford the most expensive components, but I think I could probably budget those in over the summer, especially used. The MMF-5 turntable seems like an incredible deal, and after buying the others, that's what's next on the upgrade list. First though, I need to upgrade my cables, either to RS Gold, Monster, or the cheapest Audioquest. For IC's, at least. I'm not sure if I really buy into the idea that expensive speaker cables make a big difference, but I need to buy bi-wire cable for the sapphires anyway, so something like the Parts Express 30 dollars for 50' seems like it'd work out pretty well. On the IC's, I definitely feel like I'm losing something in the connections between sources and receiver.
