What integrated to go with Paradigm studio/60's???


Hi guys, I'm new to the audio game and am kind of disappointed with my current system. The sound is all there but without the realism they had at auditioning. Vocals tend to be hidden or mushed into the intstruments making them sound unclear. Also, whenever my system tries to really rock out with complex peices it sounds confused and lacks any coherent clarity. My system is:

NAD T531 DVD player
Music Hall MMF 2.1 w/Grado Gold cartridge
Rotel RQ 970BX phono preamp
NAD T752 reciever
Paradigm Studio 60's

My sound isn't what I heard from my speakers when I auditioned them leading me to believe there's a mismatch upstream. I think I'd like to switch my receiver for an integrated amp around $1000. Does anyone with these speakers or similar ones have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Keith
thebeave250
Keith,

You don't say how long you have had your Paradigms in your system.

First and foremost, break in your Paradigms for a good 100 hours before expecting them to blossom, and blossom they will. The Studio series is notorious for its long break in period. My Studio 100's sound great now but I almost returned them because I was so disappointed when I first brought them home. Play them, play them, play them. I'm glad I was patient.

Second, consider buying a good dedicated CD player rather than expecting good quality CD playback from a DVD player. Some DVD players do fine with CD playback but not many.

As far as a good $ 1000 integrated, there are many good ones on the market. I currently run an Arcam Alpha 10 100 wpc which is a highly regarded former Stereophile Class B recommended. You can pick up a mint Alpha 10 on Audiogon for $ 600-700. The newer FMJ A22 is essentially the same product and runs $ 1000-1100 used on Audiogon. It is a current Stereophile Class B product.

Second on my list for integrateds in that price range would be the Musical Fidelity A 3.2 - also a Stereophile Class B recommended product. This is new $ 1495 but mint used at probably 60% of that.

Personally, I will be purchasing a Bryston 4B SST power amp and use my Arcam 10 as a preamp only to drive it. I want more oomph.

Good luck.
I've had the speakers for about five months and I do know that they take a while to break in because I was sorely disappointed at first. They took at least 50 hrs for the bass to even start to appear. As for the DVD player, it is an NAD which has a pretty good rep for spinning CD's in their players, although I've never auditioned it against a dedicated CD player. Thanks for your suggestions on the amp too, I'll look into those. What about the Krell 300i? Anyone's thoughts?

keith
I agree that you should consider ditching the DVD for a dedicated CDP. I think then you would be more likely to find a substantial improvement, even with a modest integrated.

If you acquired, say, a Rega Planet and a Rotel or Creek integrated, I think you would be pleasantly surprised. As for the Krell, it's a pretty good value on the used market, but I have not heard it paired with any of your other components.

And don't skip on speaker cables and ICs - many have fallen victim to the folly of trying to save $$$ that way.