Introduction

[Rwclay]

Hi; I am a new member from Livermore California. I am a relative new audio adherent. I have long appreciated music, only recently come to appreciate higher end audio. I recently found a pair of Thiel CS2 speakers. I had auditioned a pair in 1987. Loved them them, but life and children demanded priority. I bought the Thiels, Rob at Cohrent Source Service helped me replace the Woofers. They now sing like CS2s even when powered by my old Onkyo TXNR 609. My daughter blessed me with a CJ MF 2100. My plan (developing) is to use my recently acquired Marantz 6300 pre-outs to drive the CJ my MF2100, in turn, MF2100 to the Thiel CS2s. Any recommendations, suggestions, or advice are appreciated!

[admin]

Welcome to CJO. Great to have you with us. I think you will find the MF2100 a major upgrade from the Onkyo. As for recommendations, are you looking at getting a CJ preamp? Are you looking at the used or new market? What's your budget?

[Rwclay]

Thank you.. presently I am looking at using a Marantz sr6300 for a pre-amp (source selector and volume control, pre-outs for all channels. I have no turntable, just DVD/SAC ( Sony S9000 ES. I am just starting down this path. Who knows what the future holds. My wife said ‘why don’t you just go buy a new system?’ I’m pretty sure she is not aware of the cost of new high end hardware today! I may get there, just not today!

[admin]

Cool. Well, you jumped right into some top tier stuff with the MF2100. When I first started out, I was also using home cinema based gear for my audio as well. At some point you will probably want to transition over to more audiophile gear. Certainly in your setup currently, the MF2100 is the highest quality unit so you probably will want to work on slowly changing the other components first. Depending on what media you prefer to listen to the most, you may want to pursue a focused line of upgrade (ie a DAC if you listen to mostly digital sources, a 2 channel preamp, etc..).

If looking for recommendations and you are on tight budget, there are some great deals to be had on the used market. There are high quality companies that offer new units at very attractive price entry points. Some of these include ones like schiit, rega, and magnepan so you may want to check them out.

Regardless, welcome again and enjoy the music!