The agony of choice

[rusty bearing]

I'm in the rather nice position of being able to upgrade my existing setup which admittedly is a bit of a mish mash - a decent sounding mish mash mind :)
It's an odd collection of stuff that I've put together over the last say 20 years comprising

1. Birch plinthed Lenco GL75 with Origin Live Onyx arm and Hana SL cart
2. Exposure XM3 phono stage
3. Musical fidelity X150 Amp
4. Caimen DAC
5. Arcam CD72 cd player (laptop has no cd/dvd drive)
6. PMC GB1 speakers

Most, well all actually is ex demo, some from here or other used listings. The bulk of the vinyl I own is 60's - 70's stuff ranging from dear old Sabath to Fairport,
So I'm happy with the Lenco and phono stage but I would think they would benefit from a better amp and speakers but cant do both and with a budget right now of 1-2k I think amp first, speakers later. What would the general concensus be and of course suggestions welcome
Been casting covetous glances at primare, Audiolab, Bel canto, Arcam, and Exposure amongst others.

[hifinutt]

do you use the arcam as a transport ?
certainly audiolab tremendous vfm and the new arcam radia range within your budget

the rotel RA 1572 mark 2 within your budget and will make a superb amp . you could buy a matching cd player next time .

https://www.rotel.com/en-gb/product/ra-1572mkii

https://hifichicken.com/rotel-ra-1572mkii-review

[Macca]

It's a good amp. I'd keep that and change the speakers which are easily improved on.

[struth]

Inclined to agree. Speakers first

[rusty bearing]

I must admit the X150 has been a good amp and I have thought about changing the PMC's in the future so I'm not biased ether way. The fun of researching new kit just doubled it seems to me.
Any suggestions from experience what speakers to look for as a starter? I'm loath to believe every hi fi review I read, also not an issue if they are used and in good nick, don't have to be brand new

I don't use the cd player much, all discs have been ripped and are on an SSD on my main laptop connected to the DAC via USB, but i have an older spare I thought I might turn into a linux based music server, it also has a built in DVD, something to do over the dark winter months

[Pigmy Pony]

I'll admit to being a bit of an MF fanboy, so I'd be inclined to keep the X-150 and change the speakers. I've heard it said that B&W match MF amps well. I don't know about that, But I know it took a change from a Marantz integrated to a Musical Fidelity A3.2 to bring my brother's old B&Ws to life. And a few years ago The B&W room at a hifi show I attended was using MF amplification for their then-new CM7s, and very nice it was too.

[Lawrence001]

If you actually like the sound of your system it might make sense to move along the upgrade path of the brands you have.

So PMCs to FB1i or even OB1s.

MF amp to A308, A5 or M6 for example.

[rusty bearing]

If you actually like the sound of your system it might make sense to move along the upgrade path of the brands you have.

So PMCs to FB1i or even OB1s.

MF amp to A308, A5 or M6 for example.

Good point and one to investigate on these dark dreary lancashire days. Tell you what though, I can see my budget going up in smoke if I'm not careful :rolleyes:

[Lawrence001]

True but you only live once [emoji6]

[rusty bearing]

Quite by accident came across a pIR OF 2016 pmc 5.23'S at a price that's in budget and in Oak finish for the WAF. Does anyone any experience of these? Oh, and merry Christmas one and all :)