After a few weeks

[curtis]

Anyway into talking your Dad into upgrading and you getting his old stuff?

-curtis

[Skisax22]

Doubtful. His music collection, reciever, 5 disc cd changer, tape deck, and turntable are all in one room with some boston acoustics floor standers, and he recently (2 or 3 years ago) went multi channel in the next room for HT. He bought a new yamaha reciever and sony dvd player with a PSB speaker system (nothing special). I knew i should have convinced him to move everything to that room at the time because i know he was considering it, but i think now things are pretty much settled. He's in the "if it Aint broke...." kind of mindset. So it looks like ill be upgrading on my own

Steve

[curtis]

Hmmm....OK...it was worth a shot.

So it looks like you need a receiver or integrated amp, and a disc player right?

-curtis

[nhan070]

Skisaxx,
Since you mentioned you had the opportunity to trial the Ascends (which model?) on your dad's system, I'm curious to hear his impression. Did he get a chance to listen to it also?

[Skisax22]

Curtis,
Yeah i will try but knowing my dad it doesnt seem likely. Yeah basically thats what i think i need but IM no sure which is more pressing, and what teh best reciever or integrated amp solutoin would be. The thing i love about the CBM170s is that i bought them hoping that i would not have to sell them and uy somehting better in a few years. So far i think this is going to be true. it is a building block not a stepping stone. So is there a similar solution wit powering them were i wont lose my $500 investment or whatever i decide to spend. nhan070, as i mentioned they were 170s and my dad was very impressed but like i was saying before he seems pretty settled with his equipment. mybe if his BA floorstanders meet their end he might consider it.

Steve

[curtis]

if you are looking for just economical two-channel, a refurbed HK stereo receiver or used NAD integrated amp would stuff I would look at. If you want to eventually expand the system to HT sooner than later...then maybe a refurbed HK AVR...or look on the used market. I have heard my Ascends on a NAD integrated and they sounded great. My Father is using a HK stereo receiver with their CMT-340's...and they sound great too.

For disc player, if you want DVD and CD, some of the economical Toshibas have been getting some good press. I don't know the model numbers...maybe someone can chime in with those.

-curtis

[DavidD]

On some of the Audiophile boards, the Toshiba 3950 and 3960 have become quite popular. I think some of the raves are over modified players, but even without mods they seem popular.

However, they don't support DVDA or SACD if you want to be able to play those discs.

[Skisax22]

thanks for the info. This may be under teh wrong category now, but are there any integrated amps that have particularly good preamps so that at a later date i could buy a dedicated amp and jsut use the pre out from whatever i buy next.

Steve