On the plus side, you have an excellent Music Hall MMF CD 25 CD player to build a system around. Also, the JVC DVD players ... especially if it is something like the 600BL or 602SL is actually quite a good DVD player and competent CD player.
The Music Hall MMF CD 25 (in stock form) is a pretty neutral, warmish sounding machine. I am unfamiliar with the mods and I am unsure if the mods would change the inherent nature of the Music Hall's sound that dramatically ... if anything, mods tend to further build on a unit's inherent sound.
HK receivers are known for being a bit dark sounding (emphasize the lower end of the spectrum) so the brightness is not coming from the HK. Polk speakers can be excessively sharp and brittle sounding in the upper mids to treble end of the spectrum. Polk has largely corrected this in its LSi series, but I gather this not the series that you own ... as the LSi are price wise not what you would pair with a HT receiver.
As for your cables, Blue Jeans cables are fine and get the job done ... do not change them. Said differently and without any disrespect or attitude intended or implied, we are talking about basic to mid-fi components here and not the level of electronics where swapping in a cable will make jaws drop and babies weep and women swoon (you get my drift).
What has me a bit puzzled is that the Music Hall (in stock form) alone should not be upsetting the sound balance to this degree. I have an owned a Music Hall CD 25 for 2 1/2 years and originally paired it with a Harman Kardon 3370 receiver and it was really very pleasant sounding (Acoustic Research 302 speakers). My hunch is that this system has always been walking on the almost too bright side and the improvements made by the Music Hall are getting you to notice the sound more and you are finding that you do not like all that you hear.
If I were to start anywhere, I would start with the speakers. Afterall, that is what you hear and you do not own by any stretch "excessively bright" amps or sources. I would also be interested in acquiring speakers that are good all-rounders, hold up very well over time, and will pair up well with a variety of different equipment. With that said, I would look at speakers from NHT and PSB .
I suggested these 2 companies, because you get a fairly high performance/price ratio with them and because they also make matching center channel speakers, given that you want to go HT. For monitor style speakers, I would suggest the NHT SB3 ($600) or PSB B25 ($500) and for floorstanders, the NHT ST4 ($1000) or PSB 7PT ($1000).
By the way, the Spendors that you mentioned are great speakers, but think further upstream ... are you not going to be pairing them with a receiver? It may turn out that you will wind up with both a HT receiver and a separate 2 channel amp in the same system ... if you ultimately do, the NHT's and PSB's will not let you down.
When you get to receivers, look to the Denon 2805 or 3805, as well as the ARCAM AVR 2000. They will provide you with good enjoyable sound, if not necessarily hifi nirvana.
Continue to educate yourself on what's out there and try to listen, wherever you can (I have learned more from listening to bar & grill sound set-ups than from most dealers). Also, identify the type of listener & hobbyist that you are ... there is a ton of interesting and great sounding equipment out there ... what do you want your level of interaction to be?
Regards, Rich
The Music Hall MMF CD 25 (in stock form) is a pretty neutral, warmish sounding machine. I am unfamiliar with the mods and I am unsure if the mods would change the inherent nature of the Music Hall's sound that dramatically ... if anything, mods tend to further build on a unit's inherent sound.
HK receivers are known for being a bit dark sounding (emphasize the lower end of the spectrum) so the brightness is not coming from the HK. Polk speakers can be excessively sharp and brittle sounding in the upper mids to treble end of the spectrum. Polk has largely corrected this in its LSi series, but I gather this not the series that you own ... as the LSi are price wise not what you would pair with a HT receiver.
As for your cables, Blue Jeans cables are fine and get the job done ... do not change them. Said differently and without any disrespect or attitude intended or implied, we are talking about basic to mid-fi components here and not the level of electronics where swapping in a cable will make jaws drop and babies weep and women swoon (you get my drift).
What has me a bit puzzled is that the Music Hall (in stock form) alone should not be upsetting the sound balance to this degree. I have an owned a Music Hall CD 25 for 2 1/2 years and originally paired it with a Harman Kardon 3370 receiver and it was really very pleasant sounding (Acoustic Research 302 speakers). My hunch is that this system has always been walking on the almost too bright side and the improvements made by the Music Hall are getting you to notice the sound more and you are finding that you do not like all that you hear.
If I were to start anywhere, I would start with the speakers. Afterall, that is what you hear and you do not own by any stretch "excessively bright" amps or sources. I would also be interested in acquiring speakers that are good all-rounders, hold up very well over time, and will pair up well with a variety of different equipment. With that said, I would look at speakers from NHT and PSB .
I suggested these 2 companies, because you get a fairly high performance/price ratio with them and because they also make matching center channel speakers, given that you want to go HT. For monitor style speakers, I would suggest the NHT SB3 ($600) or PSB B25 ($500) and for floorstanders, the NHT ST4 ($1000) or PSB 7PT ($1000).
By the way, the Spendors that you mentioned are great speakers, but think further upstream ... are you not going to be pairing them with a receiver? It may turn out that you will wind up with both a HT receiver and a separate 2 channel amp in the same system ... if you ultimately do, the NHT's and PSB's will not let you down.
When you get to receivers, look to the Denon 2805 or 3805, as well as the ARCAM AVR 2000. They will provide you with good enjoyable sound, if not necessarily hifi nirvana.
Continue to educate yourself on what's out there and try to listen, wherever you can (I have learned more from listening to bar & grill sound set-ups than from most dealers). Also, identify the type of listener & hobbyist that you are ... there is a ton of interesting and great sounding equipment out there ... what do you want your level of interaction to be?
Regards, Rich