Just moved all this stuff into a dedicated room. Actually my cd player was a denon 2200, but i recently sold it for a Music Hall CD-25, which i will get end of the week. As for listening with the denon 2200, It's amazing how much different it sounds setup as a dedicated listening room vs in my living room. My speakers just seem to disappear! i can only imagine how the music hall will improve the sound.
I'll report more on the Music Hall when I get it.
The Cayin is just awesome. I LOVE this piece. Very smooth, warm, and very musical. I can't imagine replacing this unit especially for what it cost. I still prefer the stock Valve Art EL34's.
The Def Tech's... everyone says they are great HT speakers. But i think they are great Music speakers too. I would love to try some others to compare, like Vienna Acoustics, Meadowlarks, etc, but i'm happy with the sound these speakers put out with the Cayin.
As for the cables, Analysis Plus. for all the people that say cables don't make a difference, i beg to differ. some may sound very similar, but i was using Monster(sucks) before, and constantly got listening fatigue. Even my wife could tell the difference when i switched them out to the AP's. her words "it sounds so much better, did you do something?" I think that says enough.
So i would say it's starting to stack up as a very good system on a budget. $3500 new, and i think the only thing i paid for as new was the speakers. so for $2500 used/new i think i did well :-)
Kray, very nice system! Have you thought about acoustic treatments for the room as a next step? I am (possibly) soon to be in a very similar situation, as you noticed.
