accastil

I'd have a serious sort out of your front end electronics before pumping for an even MORE revealing set of loudspeakers.

How do you even know where the problem lies in your system when none of your electronic boxes matches another?

You have:

Cambridge Audio Azur CD player (sounds like a CA CD player)
A Marantz SR5500 pre amp (sounds like a Marantz pre)
A Rotel rb03. (sounds like a Rotel power amp)
MS 502 (sound like MS speakers)

Rotel rcd06, (sounds like a Rotel CD)
HK235 (sounds like a HK pre)
Custom power amp (who knows WHAT that sounds like)
Paradigm studio reference 20 V3 (sound like Parradigms)

So which is the bit that's making it do this or that? How would you ever know?

IMO you need to take a very diifferent approach to hifi - that is: build a synergy.

Many hifi marques now build a complete solution, from CD to amp to speaker.
Most recommend at least to use a matching CD and amp.
Each company definitely has its own idea of sound and they don't all line up.
Putting this with that leads to verryy happhazard results.


Anyone who makes blanket statements about speakers doing this or that without taking into consideration the preceeding electronics has no idea what they're talking about.

A speaker cannot improve what has not come before it. That's impossible. The best a speaker can do is deal faithfully with the information it has been given, within its own limits.
Therefore any loss in an amp cannot be made good.
An amp's job is to deal faithfully with its signal, once again within its design limits.

So you go back to the source component, the first thing to deal with the source.
The game is won and lost here. Any loss here cannot be made good.
What's on a CD is all you get - no more, only LESS through LOSS.

You do yourself no favours by too good an amp on a poor source, and an even worse disservice by too good a speaker on a poor amp.

My point? Don't rush to blame the loudspeaker as they have THE LEAST effect on your sound.

For my money you would be better putting the Rotel CD player with the Rotel power amp and getting a Rotel pre, and I reckon that'd go best with the Paradigms.
I'd get a Cambridge Audio pre power for the Cambridge CD player and run the MS502s off that.

Go to a good dealer and get a demo before plunging ahead. Find out whether you really like the Rotel sound, or the Cambridge sound on your speakers.

At the moment however, if I was your concientious dealer, I couldn't even begin to tell you what your sound is.