Setup advice

[Akustic]

Thank you all so much for the help! So sorry for the late reply to this thread - been taking some time to research and mess with my equipment before reporting back.

As far as my speaker placement goes, I place them poorly to keep them out of the way when we're watching tv or when the system is off. When i'm listen to records or no one's home, i'll pull the speakers out significantly - definitely affects the sound. I'll post pictures of the two positions soon.

My source for reference between both amplifiers is my turntable which has not changed between the two amplifiers - same cart and stylus as well. I now use my PS4 and cheap bluetooth streamer with the NAD and did not have that setup with the Luxman.

Still looking for better clarity out of my system. Potentially I also hear other things i would want changed in my setup but dont have the knowledge to describe what those things are yet. Thank you for baring with me haha.

Pyoung asked what speakers i heard the NAD with when i bought it and the answer is several. The guy who sold it to me played 4 pairs of speakers through it, I really liked the sound of these strange looking vintage KEF speakers he had. I dont remember the model but they came with stands and he said id need a sub separately. I think he said for $600 i could do a sub and the KEF's.

Building a system takes time and experimentation ..
You had it sounding better to your ear, but now you don't .
You changed the amp and the preamp which contains the phono stage (preamplifier for the cartridge in the turntable)..
Could be the sound of the NAD's amplification section, it's preamp, or even more likely, it's phono stage that you aren't liking ..

If you like the sound of the NAD through your digital sources but not vinyl, then you could purchase a better sounding separate phono stage and run it into the NAD...
Borrow a CD player and listen since Bluetooth isn't really a high resolution source to determine the sonics of the NAD's amp and preamp sections .. even a thrift store CD player will likely sound better than a Bluetooth source ...

Before you assume that you need to replace your speakers, take your speakers for a ride, and go audition them with an expensive separate amp and preamp that you may not be able to afford .. but that will let you know what those speakers are capable of with really fine amplification ..
That will help determine if it's speakers or electronics that you're shopping for ..

Good luck .. it's a process .. you'll get there.
But it is always best to audition anything new in your room, in your system, and never sell anything until you have made an improvement ..

 

[Tdaut]

CraigVMN - great point! haha

Definitely asking for suggestions or what direction to go based on the amplifier i now have. I understand the room, speaker stands, etc., have a great deal to do with the overall sound as well!

 

[Akustic]

Thanks for asking me to clarify!
I feel my system as a whole lacks clarity - which i think its fair to assume has to do with each individual piece of gear.

I guess thats more of what my question is: which upgrades are going to help me achieve more clarity and depth out of my music? I assumed the speakers are the first place to start but I may be totally mistaken.

It's a chain and it's only as good as it's least resolving piece ...
Sometimes it's surprising .. it can be as simple as a cable, or the arrangement of the pieces that's holding it back .. speakers sitting on padded carpet will definitely do it.
What cartridge are you using in the turntable ??

 

[doctor fuse]

I just discovered that my Nikko power amp has a weird anomaly - the Speaker B outputs are reversed - L is R and R is L!

I just recently started using the Speaker B outs for some extra Tannoy woofers, and I was discouraged that the sound was off. Now that I got the stereo L and R all in line, it sounds excellent again.

Could you have done something similarly simple, like a + speaker wire going into the - of the speaker?

Might be worth going over all connections again.

 

[Tdaut]

Just a quick update for everyone: Left the shop this morning with these KEF's C200SW subs and C15 bookshelf speaker combo - these speakers are much more full range than they look. Couldnt be happier with the upgrade from the Boston A-60's. The details i notice right off the bat, cleaner, less muddy bass, and I'm getting noticeably more transparency even when using my cheap bluetooth streamer!

Definitely still upgrades to be made. Going to start with a new phono preamp for my turntable and go from there! thank you all for the helpful advice! Here's a picture of the new (to me!) KEFs

 

[coonmanx]

Just a quick update for everyone: Left the shop this morning with these KEF's C200SW subs and C15 bookshelf speaker combo - these speakers are much more full range than they look. Couldnt be happier with the upgrade from the Boston A-60's. The details i notice right off the bat, cleaner, less muddy bass, and I'm getting noticeably more transparency even when using my cheap bluetooth streamer!

Definitely still upgrades to be made. Going to start with a new phono preamp for my turntable and go from there! thank you all for the helpful advice! Here's a picture of the new (to me!) KEFs

Looking good...