It's a SICKNESS I tell you...

[EJD]

The last thing I really needed to was buy another piece of gear. After all, I finally convinced my wife that I had to have a 2 channel system upstairs since CDs just didn't sound quite as good as I would like in the HT rig (mostly due to speaker placement).

But a couple folks here (who shall remain nameless ) recently picked up some Acurus gear and it got me thinking back to how much I coveted those pieces back when I was in college. So last week I pulled the trigger on an Acurus A250 for the 2 channel system.

Now mind you that the room it is going into is a 10'x12' office and I have a 9 month old daughter, so there is no way I can really use all of that thing - so I keep making excuses to justify my behavior:
"It was such a good price"
"It's in perfect condition"
"It's built like a tank"
"It's so cool in it's simplicity"
and the best one of all "Someday when I get a dedicated HT room - this will be just what I need".

So how does it sound? Well, I'm not going to get into descriptions of sound quality, but let me just say that I like it a LOT. Of course, most of that may be due to going from 80wpc to 250wpc. I was missing a fair amount of low end content at lower volumes - and the 214 is no slouch either.

All in all, a much more enjoyable listen. But then again, me saying that about an impulse buy may be just another symptom of the disease...... gaaaaah.

 

[fmw]

If I had a dollar for every time I've done that, I could buy a new power amp with it. Glad you are enjoying the equipment. Nothing wrong with pride of ownership.

You're lucky you have a room with good acoustics. My music room has terrible acoustics. I listen near field. I get better sound from my home theater which is in a more open and reflective environment.

 

[cellhead]

If it sounds good it's cool.

 

[Davemcc]

It's better to say "Hey I got this thing and I love it" rather than "I could've got this thing, but..."

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Being a compulsive upgrader myself, I sympathize completely. My current 2-channel setup sounds so good that I am not sure if anything I could buy would make a significant improvement to my ears. In spite of this, I will undoubtably buy something new the next time I have some money built up. (Emergency funds? Savings? What are those?!)

 

[EJD]

It's better to say "Hey I got this thing and I love it" rather than "I could've got this thing, but..."

You're right about that. I had been passing these things up for several weeks, but for some reason kept going back and looking for them to come up for sale.

You're lucky you have a room with good acoustics.

That's next on the list. I think I can make some big improvements in that area with the right room treatments. Oh well, at least those aren't things I already have.....

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I seriously need neither a new CD player nor a new integrated amp, much less both. I am extremely skeptical that either of these would give me much audible improvement over what I have now (at least without getting into much higher-end territory than I can afford.) In spite of this, I am leaning strongly toward a matched set of NADs for $700 total. Why? Because NAD has a great reputation, because the specs are impressive, because they match, because they look cool, and above all because I can.

 

[samsungson]

Thats a Funny story!!!

I hate how good my brain does at convincing me to keep spending money!!

 

[Davemcc]

above all because I can.

You're preachin' to the choir, Brother. Can I get a Hallelujah.

 

[davidtwotrees]

But a couple folks here (who shall remain nameless ) recently picked up some Acurus gear and it got me thinking back to how much I coveted those pieces back when I was in college. So last week I pulled the trigger on an Acurus A250 for the 2 channel system.

Not sure who the OP was referring to. My rig was slouching with an Audio Refinement Multi5 and a Rotel 956 amp plus each front speaker having it's own built in side firing 10" sub with 100w.......it was clear that what I needed was an Acurus A250........to biamp each front speaker.......to get the best sound from my system...........sheesh.......

 

[Joe Schmoe]

You're preachin' to the choir, Brother. Can I get a Hallelujah.

Instead of buying the NADs online, I ended up buying a pair of Denons (DVD557 and DRA37 receiver) locally. They also have the newness factor, the good looks, the impressive specs, and the matching but for half the price. I would have been happy for those reasons even with no improvement in sound, so I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that I did get an improvement in sound, and not even all that subtle. The noise floor is lower, I hear details that were previously masked, the bass is more tightly controlled, and imaging has even improved to some degree.
I cannot say how much each component contributed individually, as I have only heard them together. This experience has removed some of my skepticism and left me wondering how much more improvement is possible.