Good speakers for a low budget

She knows little about audio and wanted to replace the cd player to improve the sound of the system which has a really small sound stage and seems to drown out a lot of the high frequencies (female vocals, violins, etc. can barely be heard in the presence of male vocals, drums, etc.). I suggested the speakers, which are definitely not the weakest link, because changing speakers typically has the most drastic effects on the sound of an audio system. I hooked up my North Star cd player in place of her cd player today to see whether or not it would make a difference and, surprisingly enough, it actually made a world of a difference. More detail, tighter bass, etc. I guess there is always the option of spending the same money on an integrated amp or a cd player such as the rotel rcd 1072.

Imaginarynumbers,

I'm going to take the side of your female friend, and say replace the "weak link" first, which seems to be her CDP. One that I've owned and though was a good sounding player is the NAD C542. If her speakers are PSB Alphas, then she already has some good speakers, and while getting some $600 a pair speakers may be an improvement, it could also prove not to be the case. Bottom line, keep the speakers, replace the CDP, and that may be all she needs, to solve her soundstaging and high frequency problems. If not, then I would also be looking at an integrated amp (and there are good sounding, affordable offering from NAD, Cambridge Audio, Denon, Rotel, Marantz, ect) as an integrated should give her better performance than her receiver (which may be the real "weak link"). Basically the "speaker first" approach works great if someone is building a complete system. Otherwise, I would subscribe to "relacing the weakest link" method. Remember, a system is only going to sound as good as it's "weakest link". You could find yourself in a situation, where "upgraded speakers" only further magnatizes the weaknesses of the components in front of them.

Yes obviously get rid of that CDP. maybe both it and the amp. The alpha's are probably her strongest link.

I'm also thinking buying another pair of speaks for $600 will not make much difference from the current PSBs, if this model PSB sounds like others I have heard.

If the CD has a digital output, an outboard DAC might be the best investment for $600. An mhdt Paradisea can be had for under %500 and make a real difference in the sound.

If she's using a stock RCA interconnect between CD and receiver, maybe upgrade that to a decent Audioquest or similar IC for under $100 also.

There's an instructive, current thread concerning soundstage that might be useful here. Has your friend experimented with moving the speakers around in the room?

I don't think that the Pioneer CD player is necessarily the problem, unless it is beginning to show its age and not work well after 15 years. I owned one of these players years ago and it was a fine player and is definitely keeping with the level of the rest of your friend's system.

Even when this system was brand new, the SONY receiver was the limiting component. It is your basic SONY HT receiver, fine for what it is, but music is not its strong suit.

My question about the PSB speakers would be ... what shape are the woofer surrounds in?

I don't mean to spend your friend's money or come across as snooty, but it just sounds like it may be time to replace the system. You can do it piecemeal, but the whole system really needs to go. I went through this two years ago with a good friend and she resisted like heck, but in the end she spent about $700 on TEAC 500 series mini separates (receiver and dvd player) and NHT speakers. The new system sounds great, she's happy, and she felt that she got her money's worth. This may be the situation here.

Regards, Rich