Please suggest audio setup upgrade

I don't mind used but I don't know what to look for...

Look on Craigslist. A current CL ad in San Diego shows a guy asking eighty bucks for a clean-looking Nakamichi RE-3 stereo receiver. If it's working, and he claims it is, then just go get it. Or look at other ads and let us know what you find and we'll very likely provide you with several opinions.

I bet that Nak will soon find an owner. I quit looking when I found it. Hard to beat for short money, just make sure you hear it before buying.
 
These are all good suggestions but I suspect you simply liked the Wharfedales better than the Bostons. My advice would be to audition some speakers in your area (Wharfedale and orhers) and find out what you like and buy it. Then sell the Bostons and buy a new amp/receiver and perhaps a dac.
 
I recommend getting an inexpensive chip amp, and use it to evaluate your current and future receivers and speakers. Your BA speakers may sound better than you have heard so far. Or not. I am thinking about something like this:

https://www.parts-express.com/lepai...-stereo-amplifier-with-power-supply--310-3000

Together with your new DAC, you would have a known-good source in terms of sound quality, if not power or features. Then go comparing speakers and amps/receivers.
 
Those Boston Acoustics are nice speakers that I would keep. I have several from the VR series and they compete well with my nicer speakers. My 2 main systems were built around VR40s and VR20s for a long time (now they're on home theater duty). As many speakers I've listened to, those are still among

Not often you see people anymore with VR series, they are increasing in price you might have noticed. If you're ever in GA, always welcome to experience the entire VR lineup (just about) in a HT setup. I use 2 sets of vr40's and rear CR8MKII (we rebuild them hence MKII and replaced the textile tweeter with the AMD from the vr series to timbre match) 2 vr12 center speakers in parallel. You know those i am sure, beast of a center let alone two.

I also have 3 sets of vr20's we use in the bedroom HT (still collecting more BA speakers) i have to rebuild a pair of vr20's. Woofers locked, bought them as such for 25usd, that VR line is absolutely worth to have and can still match speakers in the price ranges exceeding far beyond its original!
 
Not often you see people anymore with VR series, they are increasing in price you might have noticed. If you're ever in GA, always welcome to experience the entire VR lineup (just about) in a HT setup. I use 2 sets of vr40's and rear CR8MKII (we rebuild them hence MKII and replaced the textile tweeter with the AMD from the vr series to timbre match) 2 vr12 center speakers in parallel. You know those i am sure, beast of a center let alone two.

I also have 3 sets of vr20's we use in the bedroom HT (still collecting more BA speakers) i have to rebuild a pair of vr20's. Woofers locked, bought them as such for 25usd, that VR line is absolutely worth to have and can still match speakers in the price ranges exceeding far beyond its original!
My home theater consists of a pair of VR40s, a VR12, a pair of CR75s, and a pair of CR6s. My unconnected reserve (mostly from my other HT) consists of a pair of VR20s, 2 VR10s, a pair of CR8s, 2 CRCs, and a pair of CR85s. So yeah, I have lots of them too :D

The only Bostons of those I'd consider letting go of are the CR series, which are still very good speakers. I'm not planning on ever letting any of my VR series go, especially the 40s, 20s, and the 12.

Yes, my VR40s and 20s compete well with any speaker I've put them up against, which is why I'll never sell those. And the VR12 is a beast of a center. :D (Sometimes I do wish I had a VR14 though...)
 
I'm not familiar with that Craig receiver but I'm familiar with many of their products. Imo, they were ok but not on the level of pioneer or Kenwood.

Dmitry, you don't sound like a vintage audio guy. If you get a vintage audio receiver or integrated, you will have a recap and upgrades ahead of you.

Personally, I'd look for 80s/90s because there are many systems still operating very well from this era. If you don't need a silver faced classic beauty, they are available for next to nothing. Yamaha, Sony, onkyo, nad, etc.

... But before you start buying more components, I'd see what you think of that dac and maybe see if you can borrow an amp to test. It's easy to take an amp to a buddy's place and play it for an evening. See if those Boston's open up and do what you want.

If you want something on the dirt cheap, forget specific models and brands. Look through Craigslist list, garage sales, or whatever and keep your mind and eyes open. Just get any of the top brands from the past if they are a mid range component. Don't get bottom range and if you are looking on the cheap, you won't be able to totl pieces.

If you find that a better amp doesn't expose the Boston's to be what you want, I'd look for speakers first and then power. Of course, never turn down a sweet deal if you stumble across something. It's amazing how much old gear is out there for free or nearly when you have your eyes open.

Enjoy the search and see if you can find a way to enjoy your system. I'll bet that dac is a great start.
 
Look for a Denon DRA 35v, 55v or 75v. Great sounding, well built receivers that can be picked up cheap.
 
Hi, everybody!
So, for the last week or so I've been listening to my new DAC. And, to be honest, I don't hear much of the difference.
There is difference, I can hear Hi-s way better now. But it's not a revelation or something...
So I probably need to think in a new receiver direction
Thank you for advices anyway, I appreciate it!
 
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For what it's worth, you will hear more of a difference as your system improves. Sooner or later, you were going to need a DAC. The money wasn't wasted.

Being in San Diego, you have access to every receiver ever made both new and used.
 
. If you don't need a silver faced classic beauty, they are available for next to nothing. Yamaha, Sony, onkyo, nad, etc.


If you want something on the dirt cheap, forget specific models and brands. Look through Craigslist list, garage sales, or whatever and keep your mind and eyes open. Just get any of the top brands from the past if they are a mid range component. Don't get bottom range and if you are looking on the cheap, you won't be able to totl pieces.

I don't need it to look great, I need it to sound great, so any old stuff is fine. The problem is - I need to know which old stuff is good and which is not. I don't think every Yama from 90's is great, right? You need to know models or at least series of top-level model to know what you buy
 
...I don't think every Yama from 90's is great, right? ....

Correct. But, they are all good.

It's not easy to put together a great stereo. Most of us are gear heads. We love reading specs and reviews, just as well as listening. We're like baseball fanatics that can cite any statistic off the top of our head.

I still don't know your budget. That would change everything.

All of this info is on this site but would require months of reading. I'm going to give you a highly condensed history lesson. Feel free to ignore it. Others will step in with contradictory information. Welcome to the subjective opinion.

Here is my opinion on brands and models:

1965~1973 was all about Marantz. Their top models of the era still sound good today but all of these require recapping and some other mods. Worse still, many of them have been repaired gorilla style and need to be unrepaired by someone who knows what they are doing. While good sounding, these receivers don't put out the power a contemporary audiophile would expect.


1974~1981 was all about Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood (in that order). IMO, Kenwood was the best of the three at the start of this era and the worst of the three at the end of the era but it doesn't matter. All three are good. Power was starting to become plentiful, even by contemporary standards, but only the top units. Most amplifiers of the era were in the 40 Watt range and that isn't enough for what you're trying to do with those Bostons. All units from this era benefit from rebuilding, even if they are functional. Max performing these units, at this point in their life, is more likely to cause failure than newer units because they are 40 years old and have been subject to countless heat cycles. Worst still, this seems to be the most popular "golden years" era, so the top units of this era go for tons of money.

The top Sansui and Pioneer gear goes for ridiculous amounts of money, these days. These pieces are probably worth it, for the aging audiophile like myself, but they are no bargain for those who don't cherish their history.

Kenwood is the only popular brand of this era with some value headroom, IMO. The problem with Kenwood is they don't have a lot of resale so aren't necessarily worth a professional refurbishment.

This era was so good, any of the top integrated or receivers of this era can be considered excellent as all brands were trying to exist in the era of a massive stereo arms race: Yamaha, Onkyo, Sony, etc.....

This was also an era that had some excellent boutique brands but, again, they are sought after and there is no value in them.


1982~1994 this was the era of Yamaha, Sony, Harmon Kardon (and some others I'm probably forgetting).

Specifically, the Yamaha separates were all good (ie: preamps: C70, C80, C85, etc. - amps: M60, M70, M80, M85, (more reliable after this) MX-600, MX800, MX1000). There isn't a lot of value in these series and the early ones need rebuilding. Later ones generally do not. Capacitors were just starting to get much better in the later 1980s. Prices on this gear are starting to go up. They are losing their status as forgotten top performers.

Most of the Sony ES line was good in this era. That includes ES integrated amps and ES separates.

Harmon Kardon was good in any era but they got *really* good in this era, IMO. Everything they made was upper-middle end, or better. Something like an HK PM665 might be a decent integrated for you.

Kenwood had a few excellent pieces trickle into this era but, by then, the quality was gone from most of their line. Specifically, the "Basic" line was really good: C-2, M-2, etc. They had a few outstanding, massive receivers trickle through to this era, also.

Hafler also has a few decent pieces from this era that can be had on the extreme cheap.

Luxman, also excellent in this era.


1995~onward This is the era of home theater. Stereo gear in this era is generally top quality and expensive. Home Theater gear from the start of this era is not all that desirable, at this point. This is also the era of lousy, Chinese, capacitors. The failure rate of these Chinese caps from 1995~2005 is 100%. Typical lifespan of these caps was just a few years. As production moved from Japan to China, equipment became unbearably bad in longevity. All of these devices from this era can be revived with decent caps and some competent TLC but few are worth the effort and expense.


From every era, there are good pieces from pretty much every brand. That includes Radio Shack (for real).


If you want a great deal, watch for estate sales and stop by the Good Will. If you want totally reliable gear, get a piece that has been rebuilt by a competent technician or look for the 1990ish equipment that had better quality components, like the Yamaha CX/MX series. There isn't a ton of this stuff but it's out there and is great value. If you can replace capacitors and do minor repairs, you will be looking at a massive inventory components. Keep in mind, some amplifiers from back in the day used modules which are no longer available and require electronic kung-fu to repair if those modules go. The modules generally don't go, so it's not a huge problem, but keep it in mind.

I'm going to guess you probably won't be happy with less than 60 Watts, particularly with those Bostons. You will probably end up taking the best of what you can get for power but you should probably look for 100+ Watts and, unfortunately, that is what everyone else is looking for so you have to be clever to find deals.

Keep in mind, nearly everyone on this site is going to tell you, "Get what I have. It's the best." Audio is a life long pursuit of finding specific equipment you like for nostalgic reasons, pieces that look impressive, pieces you have heard and are impressed with, and pieces you find for next to nothing so try and are impressed with (there is far more good equipment than bad).


One more item: You are probably a single source guy so you can consider buying a power amplifier and completely forgoing a preamplifier. Use your computer for volume control. This configuration works and sounds excellent. Something like a Yamaha MX-600, MX-800, Kenwood Basic M2, M2a, Harmon Kardon HK-775, etc..... would provide a lot of extremely nice sounding power. Any of these amplifiers would undoubtedly cause you to develop new respect for your Boston speakers.
 
I wasn't specific about not having a preamplifier.

A preamplifier will reduce sound quality but you gain volume, source switching, tone control, some filtering, a phono stage, etc.

In a no-preamp configuration the DAC is connected directly to a power amp. Volume is handled by the computer. If the computer is your only source, this configuration can sound excellent but you will be jumping wires if you want to send sound from a different source through the amplifier.
 
Many posters are so Japanese receiver centered they completely neglect to mention most American or European made gear (except speakers) from any era. IMO that's a very narrow point of view. For instance, I would choose an Audio Research SP3-A preamp over just about any preamp from anywhere made during that time period.
 
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Dmitry

You are using Boston Acoustic VR975 correct? And these are powered speakers with a 125 watt integrated amps for the subs correct?
I didn't realize these speakers would be so hard to drive and need so much power.
Is it possible they are not working as shipped?
I'm surprised your 50 watt RMS 20 to 20,000 x 2 Craig is not doing a respectable job with these speakers, unless it's defective.
 
Thank you for such a great explanation!

Found couple of things online so far:
HK 490i (Japan made) , HK880vxi and pretty fresh HK 3475 (korean made)
all for cheap (120$, 150$, 250$)
 
Dmitry

You are using Boston Acoustic VR975 correct? And these are powered speakers with a 125 watt integrated amps for the subs correct?
I didn't realize these speakers would be so hard to drive and need so much power.
Is it possible they are not working as shipped?
I'm surprised your 50 watt RMS 20 to 20,000 x 2 Craig is not doing a respectable job with these speakers, unless it's defective.

All correct.
They work fine, at least in my view, all speakers and subs work (after I've fixed one sub)
I'm not sure what do you mean by not doing a job. They sound and sound pretty loud with my Craig. But I'm talking about the quality of sound, not the power of it, don't know how to explain it right...
Also, I'm using it (don't even start laughing!) in my appartment's living room, so I'm not putting them to a max volume... Maybe they made for a louder sound which I can't provide?
 
Also, I'm using it (don't even start laughing!) in my appartment's living room, so I'm not putting them to a max volume... Maybe they made for a louder sound which I can't provide?

I think he's trying to say 50W is plenty of power for those speakers, as the bass is handled by amplifiers integrated into the speakers. Oddly, I used to work for a Boston Acoustics dealer and forgot those speakers have powered subs. In light of this, ignore my suggestion of needing 100 Watts as it was based on ignorance.
 
If you are unhappy with the "quality" of the sound it's most likely it's the speakers that aren't satisfying your ears. Try some other speakers.
 
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