Simple system upgrade

[orfalot]

Good friend of mine has a compact system comprising of:
Cambridge Audio A1 Integrated Amplifier
Philips CD 723
Audio Technica vinyl spinner (basic I think)
Gale bookshelf speakers (not sure of model just now)

Has decided he wants to use headphones and after buying some £60’ish Sennheisers has discovered the amp has no suitable output. The CD player does but he wants to listen to ‘records’ too.

Has now got an itch to spend on a new amp and a ‘Wealthy Audio’ outlet is steering towards a Cambridge Audio AXR100D (amp with DAB tuner) which is £500ish.

Possibly a daft question given the level of the TT but does anyone have any suggestions on what they’d do with £500 in the circumstances?

He’s not really an audiophile (yet) but likes his vinyl. Also pushed for space.

Cheers

 

[Nopiano]

That’ll be one of these…
https://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio-axr100d-lunar-grey.html

Depending on the exact model & condition of the turntable, cartridge and speakers, I might be more inclined get a better cartridge, a cheap headphone amp and listen to some better speakers as a way of spending the £500. The budget Gales were pretty basic iirc.

I can’t see the point of anything with a DAB radio in a Hifi system. That’s probably why it’s £100 off. If all your friend plays is records and CDs, then there are cheaper amps that have a headphone socket. The Marantz PM6007 for example, currently £399 at RS.

 

[Lawrence001]

I honestly think that this is one system where he's better off just biting the bullet and buying a whole new one if he's got the money. The problem with upgrading a component at a time is the new one wouldn't be performing anywhere near its potential given the rest of the system, and he'd have to have a lot of patience to keep buying new components with little gain until everything had been upgraded. He might give up before he finishes upgrading.

While it's pretty basic it is fundamentally balanced (except the TT I can't speak for without the model as I know there are some pretty poor ones out there, Bush etc hopefully even the basic AT TT is half decent (where I think you need at least a Project Debut to bother with vinyl or it will just sound crap and just as likely put someone off vinyl).

 

[Gyp]

Is is looking to change to only using headphones, or is it to occasionally headphones?

If he's ok with the rest of the system (for now at least), I'd be tempted to either buy a used integrated with headphone socket or attach an inexpensive dedicated headphone amp to the tape loop of the A1.

And spend the rest on music

 

[Lawrence001]

Yeah get a Creek OBH1 or similar to run off the tape out. (Rega Ear is nice for about £60-80)

 

[dhansak]

A Bluesound PowerNode Edge with Bluetooth headphones might be an interesting curveball.

 

[toprepairman]

I'd say get the rega ear and spend the rest on decent speakers. It'll be the best improvement, changing the amp won't make any difference.

 

[JANDL100]

Keep what he has, it looks like the Cambridge A1 has tape-out sockets. Just feed these into a cheap Chinese headphone amp that abound on eBay for £20-30. They really are quite decent, definitely up with the rest of his system. Probably better!

 

[orfalot]

Ta for the number of intersting/varied suggestions. Showed him this morning but I could see him getting a bit twitchy at the thought of additional boxes. Then he twitched again and bought the new CA amp i'd mentioned. Will see how he does with it.
True to say that this pursuit is not for everyone...

 

[Chumpchops]

I would not be investing in DAB given the way the market has gone.

Radio over IP is where it is at.
https://www.digitalradiochoice.com/questions/will-digital-radios-be-obsolete-dab-plus/

 

[toprepairman]

You can lead a horse to water but ........

 

[Rayymondo]

Then he twitched again and bought the new CA amp i'd mentioned. Will see how he does with it.

That amp looks fine to me, and I quite like the idea of the built in tuner, especially if he doesn't want lots of boxes. Hope he upgrades the other components eventually though...You have to start somewhere.