I have changed my audiophile thinking a lot lately, and I am not so much of an audiophile anymore. I hate to say that because I love music and stereo equipment so much still, it's just that the whole cd player thing (see my system thread for details) got me a little worked up. I really appreciate everyone who tried to help, but I still ended up deciding that bits is bits to me. That being said, I know that other things make a difference, however I have yet to see cables make a difference, and if a CD player doesn't do much, I doubt that I will hear what cables can do. I am going to save my money until I can afford new speakers, as I know for a fact that speakers still make a difference.
So far I am very happy with the MF gear. It is my first taste of hi end gear and I think it was a great choice. I won't upgrade for a very long time.
Musical Fidelity A3.2cr
Quite often I have to purchase equipment without being able to hear it first. I did get to hear the MF gear, but not with any of my associated equipment. But what I did hear I knew I liked. So I bought it.
Monitor Audio Silver 4i
Bookshelf speaker with 1" gold dome tweeter. Some people say that metal tweeters can be bad, but I think that these speakers are wonderful. New pictures with the foam edging removed and the new spikes.
Custom made Self designed
I came up with the demensions for these stands and had a local welding shop put them together for me. They are not perfect, but they are MASSIVE. They weight about 60lbs each, they have sand in each of the tubes, and I bought adjustable spikes off of parts express for the feet. I think they work very well.
Cambridge Audio Azur 540D
Wanted to try DVD audio, and the dvd player was also on its last leg.
Music Hall MMF 2.1
Very entry level but got me in to vinyl. New picture with the spikes.
Grado Green
MM Cartridge with eliptical stylus
Straightwire Rhythm
I used 2 runs from the amp to each speaker, don't know if it helps or not, but I like to think so.
Kimber Kable Tonik
.5 meter entry level interconnect
tripplite isobar 6
I have heard so many different opinions on power products that I decided that I wasn't going to buy into it unless I could get something very cheap. I saw this on ebay for 6 dollars and I couldn't pass. It's no Richard Grey, but as far as I am concerned, you don't need much else. However, that doesn't mean it is the best.
Great System...I have similar constraints on my budget. Those Monitor Audio speakers do sound nice! Do you feel the level amp you bought is justified for the monitor's? I ask this due to the intention I have for buying a new pre/amp and I have affordable speakers like yourself. I've been assuming that it is worth putting a few "K" more into pre/amp than I put into my speakers. One suggestion for you is perhaps a new CD source. I compaired your Cambridge player to Rotel 1072 and Arcam CD73t. The Arcam was superior over both in several ways...(roughly $650 new, I've seen it go for $350 used). Perhaps you would want more performance though if you are going to make a move.
