I think your amp is pretty good, but your speakers are not the best IMO.

I suggest a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 220 speakers, which are normally priced at around $350 per pair, or the Monitor Audio Bronze 1, which are around $300 per pair.

momonone wrote:

Hi newbie here, I have been using Mission 731, Creek 4040 s2 and a Aune Dac for years.. was thinking of upgrading my system, but i only have $500 to spend. any advise for me? what should i upgrade first?

Bed room/small room size..

How cohesive is the system already?

Why do you want to upgrade?

The components all seem like they fit together well; after cursory research and being a happy Creek Evolution 50A owner I am qualified to chime in.

Write back with a descriptive explanation of what you do not like about the system and we can render a more accurate response. Without further information, if the speaker baffles are not damaged and they still produce good bass and treble, I actually would either re-cap or upgrade the Creek purely due to its age. The capacitors will need replaced at a minimum; or purchase a new Creek. But that blows your budget.

In short, I would recommend re-capping the Creek.

Cheers,

Ron

momonone wrote:

Hi Ron, I actually want something better in overall performance, something sound better on my desk as I don have much space. I think the biggest problem on my system are the separation and precision, especially for those music with lots of music instrument playing together..

Now that info helps... I agree to try speakers...sounds like they have muddied over the years. That can happen also to the Creek; however, I don't think it would be as noticeable. It could still be the age of the Creek; but I agree to try speakers first and agree with the recommendation for the price.

Let us know how things turn out -

Kind Regards,

Ron