Have your say & ask the experts

Hi Everyone,

I recently pensioned off my old  TEAC Ref 300 after nearly 10 years of great service.  I replaced it with two NAD components - a C325BEE and a C515BEE.  I have so far retained my old speakers - a pair of Monitor Audio S1's, bought at the same time as the TEAC.

 If I wanted to upgrade my speakers, what would you suggest?  Would the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's constitute an upgrade, or a sideways move?

Budget?  £200 - ish.......

Thanks in advance & Best Regards

The MA BR2's are your best bet for £200.00. I had a pair for a year and I loved them. I paired them with all sorts of components (all 3 times more in terms of price!) and these wonderful speakers delivered plenty everytime.

Just make sure you put them on a pair of decent stands, i.e., Soundstyle etc. You will not be dissapointed, I assure you.

Hi Septicman

Apologies for jumping into your thread, but I’ve been weighing up the pro’s
and cons of upgrading.  A couple of the
original setups on my list were the Teac Ref 300 MkIII  and some NAD separates.

Knowing that you are using the same speakers, reduces any difference to the
souce/amp, and hopefully makes comparison reasonably straight forward.

Hence I’m curious as to how the sound of the NAD stuff compares to your old
TEAC system?

Best
Serenity

Hi Serenity,

Given that I know very little about HiFi and other gadgets, if I want to buy something my usual MO now is to come to this type of site and try and learn.  I will also go to a magazine like What HiFi and check their recommendations.  So when I am ready to buy, I will have a budget in mind, and look for 5 star recommendations and then investigate them from there.

This was what I did with the TEAC nearly 10 years ago.  I think it is either the Mk1 or Mk2.  It was a 5 star recommendation at the time, as were the MA S1 speakers, which were considered a Best Buy.  To be honest, even using the TEAC supplied leads, the sound has been very good, and were it not for the fact that the CD player has become unreliable, I would definitely have carried on with it.

I recently bought the NAD separates from Richer sounds, having compared them with Cambridge Audio.  I also bought some Audio Innovations Bi-Wire speaker cable, and from another dealer, a couple of Chord Company Crimson Interconnects.  One set to connect the CD player to the amp, and the other to replace the steel jumper connects in the back of the amp, a tip picked up on this site.

To be honest, the NAD sound, IMHO is way ahead of the TEAC.  It is crisper, clearer, more detailed, more atmospheric etc.  Listening to the NAD makes me smile each time I put a CD on.  To me, it sounded better than the CA, and with my S1 speakers better still than the demo set up at Richer.

The other difference is that the TEAC is half the width of the NAD, so if space is a consideration that might be an issue for you. 

My speaker question was to see if an upgrade was possible on a budget.  The S1 speakers are very good, but given that I'm in upgrade mode, I wanted to know how much I need to spend to see an appreciable difference.  The answer looks like "a lot".

Hope this helps.

JoelSim:

I personally wouldn't upgrade unless you were thinking of spending upwards of £400-£500.

JoelSim:

I personally wouldn't upgrade unless you were thinking of spending upwards of £400-£500.