Advice on component upgrades

[JohnnyR104sme]

Looking for advice on future upgrading some of my components in my current system which consists of a Denon AVR-X4000, Wharfedale Jade 3 Bookshelf speakers along with an ELAC 12 Debut subwoofer, a Thorens TD-318 turntable and an older One-bit Rotel CD player and an older Sony Blue-ray disc player with wifi. Various Cambridge Soundworks surround speakers complete the 6.1 Home Theater system and I have an Apple Airport Express for wifi and music sharing.

I was planning to upgrade my phono cartridge with new head shell and also add a Schitt Mani Phono Preamp for starters but the more I thought about it I realized that perhaps for better overall sound for stereo music listening I should just get the upgraded phono cartridge then get a quality integrated amplifier with a quality phono pre-amp instead. This way I could attach the integrated amp to my Denon AVR for H/T use but only have the front speakers and the subwoofer running off the integrated for better sound. I would also connect my turntable and CD player to the integrated amp and just have the Denon AVR running all the surround channels. This is a basement room and has been treated with acoustic panels since the floor and 3 of the walls are cement or brick - it has lost a lot of the echos and sounds like a regular room now.

For integrated amps I was thinking about the Peachtree Nova 150, the Peachtree 225 SE or on the higher end an Arcam A39. Would these choices make sense for the Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers? For reference purposes the Jade 3 speakers are a 3-way speaker with nominal impedance of 6 Ohms with a sensitivity rating of 86db with recommended amplification of between 30 - 150 watts. Any additional suggestions for integrated amps would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time and attention to my inquiry.

 

[tesseract]

Welcome, Johnny!

Might I suggest a miniDSP UMIK-1 microphone and our freeware, Room EQ Wizard? Seeing how the system performs in room, that right there is the most powerful tool a hard core audiophile can have.

 

[JohnnyR104sme]

Hi tesseract,
Thanks for the advice. I am going to assume that this gear is quite a bit better than the room correction system that comes with my Denon receiver?
I might give this a try but I already have installed acoustic foam panels, corner bass traps, rear wall bass traps and have some small acoustic panels on the ceiling based upon a prior set up session and earlier advice I had read. Due to the hardness of most of this room it was a virtual echo chamber now the acoustic are more like a regular room for listening. Thanks again.

 

[tesseract]

REW can be used to load EQ filters into hardware, my suggestion is to use it to look at the room response to aid setup. While I am sure your system sounds great, looking at objective data helps put the polish on.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I agree with Dennis. It’s a very cheap tweak basically. Many people are amazed at the little problems they have that they aren’t noticing.

https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/sbir-matters-for-subs-too.2269/ See my article on SBIR as just one example of what can arise. If you look at the response curve without EQ but after moving things around, that is a free upgrade. I managed that big of an improvement in the bass just by moving and spinning the subwoofer.

As for equipment, I like your integrated amp idea. You may want to expand your brands a bit. I’m currently reviewing the NAD C 368 with BluOS module. I like it quite a bit and you may find that BluOS can replace airplay with better sound and more features. The amplifier modules are NAD customized Hypex UCD amplifiers with excellent technical performance. All of the UCD modules basically sound the same (in terms of the different power ratings) and you may recall that some cost no object amps used those modules in the past. I have it setup in my theater right now, it’s great. It’s an audiophile amp, dac, streamer, with a great built in phono stage.

My review should post in the not so distant future so if you aren’t buying in the next month you may want to wait for that.

 

[AudiocRaver]

Yes to all the above. Phono cartridge might be a big change once you are ready to buy equipment..

 

[Sonnie]

REW will simply be a tool to help you see what Audyssey is doing in the Denon. Audyssey rarely gets it right, so you can measure from your main listening position and see what you are hearing and where the issues might be. Then you can perhaps tweak placement, levels, crossovers, phase (using the distance settings),etc, to get your sub/mains integrated and frequency balanced more precisely, which is going to improve imaging, sound stage and depth acuity. Another option might be to consider getting a miniDSP unit with Dirac Live, which could turn out to be your single more favorite item... but you will need that external amp to get it in the loop for your mains.