[jona.p]

Has anyone tried this, is there a big difference, currently having a dilemma, or I'm dishing out $1000 for a new second hand pair of speakers B&W 683/MA R6 or I start upgrading my source and amp first. Thinking about a Marantz 7003 or 8003.

Was wondering, if the Beresford is a big improvement over the x-fi XtremeMusic I have now.

as a side node, I desperately want new speakers, these old technics two-ways are garbage imo (Model SB 3410), congestion or what's it called (Could be source?)? busy music sounds like a mess (hd595 sounds alot better I think, out of my amp). Lossless ASIO playback ofcourse. Amp is an old Yamaha ax-450.

so choice here, I dish out 600 ish for a beresford and a new amp, or I go get some new speakers.

Any thoughts?

*edit

Slightly leaning towards speakers, because the hd595 sound absolutely great through the amp imho.

 

[nick_charles]

A different pair of speakers will (generally speaking) make much more difference than changing any (competent) digital component for another (competent) digital component . The reason is simple , speakers and headphones are (relatively) poor in the fidelity arena compared to (competent) solid state electronics , noise and distortion for speakers are orders of magnitude worse than for (competent) SS electronics. Of course variability still exists between speakers so ok speakers and really good speakers will thus be more divergent than okay and good elecronics. While you will never notice the difference between 0.001% and 0.01% , the difference between 1% and 10% is noticeable...

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

...Was wondering, if the Beresford is a big improvement over the x-fi XtremeMusic I have now...

Sadly only you can make that call. Perhaps you can buy one and if you do not like it return it. I borrowed one from a fellow Head-Fier and thought it was a very nice sounding unit at a very good price. Overall I was very impressed by its performance/price ration.

 

[jona.p]

Nice, thanks ! Might try to borrow the Beresford someplace, but I think I'll be getting some new speakers first.

 

[tizer2000uk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jona.p /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice, thanks ! Might try to borrow the Beresford someplace, but I think I'll be getting some new speakers first.

I have the Xtrememusic (Modded to LM4562) plus both Beresfords and can confirm the Beresfords are both better in terms of detail. The Xfi has alot of cheap components (Caps and opamps) which when upgraded do make a huge difference to the sound. Depends on whether or not you prefer the credit card option over the soldering iron. Nick is right though regarding loudspeakers which being electromechanical in nature are the weak link in the chain on even the very high equipment.

 

[obobskivich]

I would uh, consider some alternatives in your price range, like the Cambridge or Firestone D/A's