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Looking to improve on system

GarmanVardon

GarmanVardon

New Member
I'm new to this forum, so greetings. I've recently acquired an HK630 receiver and mated it with:

Technics sl 1500 w/ ortofon OM Super 10 cartridge
Cambridge Audio 551p phono pre-amp
Cambridge Soundworks M80 speakers
Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD player

I have about $500 to upgrade what I have or add some other component. My first thought was to possibly bi-amp with another receiver or amp. Then I thought maybe a pre-amp like the Citation 11, or possibly
a different TT, or cartridge, or cd player. All the above equipment is relatively new to me, save the TT which I bought new back in about '77 and had recapped recently.
I enjoy a variety of music and my listening space is not large. Thanks to all. GV
 
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Have you looked into room treatments? Acoustic Panels/corners? Upgrade speaker cables and interconnects might be the best addition to your rig. Your gear sounds great so maybe make a great listening space to go with it? :p
 
Welcome to AK! :)

What amp are you using now?

Edit: I see, HK.

If you clap your hands in your room and it sounds like you're in a culvert, room treatments might be the way to go. They might be the way to go even if that is not the case. ;)

For gear upgrade, I'd do a Denon DL-103 cartridge + AU-300LC (or other 1:10) step-up transformer. This is one recommendation that I can practically guarantee satisfaction.

:music:
 
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All the components are great.

I agree with the other posts that room treatments are a good option to consider. Along with that, getting a good microphone and a DSP unit to help flatten out the frequency response of the speakers in the room is another good option. A good free option is messing with your speaker positioning - a good toe-in can do wonders for many speakers. Adding good solid speaker stands can improve sound a lot too.

Beyond that, adding a subwoofer and/or upgrading your speakers are the next options I would recommend.

Those are the best ways to get the most out of your system for that budget in my opinion.
 
Those are all goods thoughts. I plan on putting a rug down but its my wife's living room,so, I can't go crazy with acoustics. I'll checkout the Denon cart. and AU amp, they're new to me. And also the DSP. Thanks to all, again. GV
 
GarmanVardon said:
I'm new to this forum, so greetings. I've recently acquired an HK630 receiver and mated it with:

Technics sl 1500 w/ ortofon OM Super 10 cartridge
Cambridge Audio 551p phono pre-amp
Cambridge Soundworks M80 speakers
Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD player

I have about $500 to upgrade what I have or add some other component. My first thought was to possibly bi-amp with another receiver or amp. Then I thought maybe a pre-amp like the Citation 11, or possibly
a different TT, or cartridge, or cd player. All the above equipment is relatively new to me, save the TT which I bought new back in about '77 and had recapped recently.
I enjoy a variety of music and my listening space is not large. Thanks to all. GV
Click to expand...

Upgrade the stylus to Ortofon OM 30. :thumbsup:
http://www.turntableneedles.com/Ortofon-Stylus-30-for-OM30-Cartridge--our-Needle-541-DEQ_p_1128.html

Get a LP cleaning system of some sort.

Example:
https://www.amazon.com/SPIN-CLEAN-S...712&sr=8-1&keywords=spin+clean+record+cleaner
 
sqlsavior said:
Welcome to AK! :)

What amp are you using now?

Edit: I see, HK.

If you clap your hands in your room and it sounds like you're in a culvert, room treatments might be the way to go. They might be the way to go even if that is not the case. ;)

For gear upgrade, I'd do a Denon DL-103 cartridge + AU-300LC (or other 1:10) step-up transformer. This is one recommendation that I can practically guarantee satisfaction.

:music:
Click to expand...
I see there are different DL-103's, such as; the R, SA or CL. Which one do you recommend?
 
I've had pretty good success with the Ortofons, so upgrading the cartridge you have seems like a great idea.

Also, for room treatments -- the rug seems like a great idea if you are on hardwoods/ a solid, non-absorbing floor. For other treatments, I have had pretty reasonable success with bookshelves (full of books) set on the diagonal in corners. You could also use tapestries or decretive rugs to hang on the walls rather than you standard acoustic panels.

These may not be perfect or most controllable, but I have found them to make a solid difference.
 
welcomdmat said:
I've had pretty good success with the Ortofons, so upgrading the cartridge you have seems like a great idea.

Also, for room treatments -- the rug seems like a great idea if you are on hardwoods/ a solid, non-absorbing floor. For other treatments, I have had pretty reasonable success with bookshelves (full of books) set on the diagonal in corners. You could also use tapestries or decretive rugs to hang on the walls rather than you standard acoustic panels.

These may not be perfect or most controllable, but I have found them to make a solid difference.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I am happy with the Ortofon overall sound and quality. I came by it by accident but I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised. The om30 stylus may do the trick, for the time. Thanks, GV
 
I also agree w/ the subwoofer idea (especially if a home theater is a future possibility) with room treatments or a RCM tied for a close second.

But before you do anything my suggestion is to go out and "listen" to other systems (friends, stores or wherever) and try and figure what it is you want to improve on. Is it the bass, the imaging, soundstage, detail, clarity etc., etc., etc. What you listen to may also be a factor. Do you listen to Allison Krause or Metallica for example. Is the "sound" of a piano (guitar, flute, ....) more important than the "sound" of another instrument. Many good suggestions above, but first decide what you want to improve on or add, I think you will be much happier in the end. Just my opinion.

Ending thoughts -
don't get in a rush, take your time
come back here (or other forum(s)) often and ask more questions/seek more opinions
keep in mind you will see/hear many opinions, but they are just that - opinions. But, in general, from knowledgeable people.
What sounds good to me or someone else may not to you or vice versa.
and HAVE FUN!!!!​
 
Spending good money is easy.

Making a change to your sound is also easy.

Making an improvement in sound, not so easy.

Fourth vote for subwoofer.
 
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GarmanVardon said:
Those are all goods thoughts. I plan on putting a rug down but its my wife's living room,so, I can't go crazy with acoustics. I'll checkout the Denon cart. and AU amp, they're new to me. And also the DSP. Thanks to all, again. GV
Click to expand...

Improve the system? Get one of everything ... can't go wrong with one of everything.
(Maybe a bit out of your budget limit though) <G>

+1 on the DSP equalization. Not as expensive or complicated as it once was. If you've already got a laptop, all you need is a Dayton USB calibrated microphone and a MiniDSP to store the settings. Download Room EQ Wizard (FREE!), run a few frequency sweeps to analyze the room, load the filters it builds into the MiniDSP, hook that up to your system, and yer good.

And I guess tacking carpets to the ceiling is out of the question? ;-}

ceiling-carpets-001.jpg


Don't laugh ... it's actually worked quite well to kill a couple hot reflections.

Fun part is having guests walk in, telling them to wipe their feet, then pointing up.
(Now you can laugh)

Rule of thumb is, kill one of two parallel surfaces to minimize reflections that can muddy up the stage. Carpet (area or throw carpet of a reasonable size may be an option) and as you can see in my pic, I also hung full length padded fiberglass drapes on the front wall - that tamed down a nasty 160hz standing wave in my over square room. Keep in mind, there's no one perfect solution, hence the earlier mentioned tools to perform a proper room analysis.
 
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