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An upgrade a long time overdue

I am thinking its time for some upgrades - like the whole system.  But its been so many years, and Boards like this have become so helpful and accessible, I am turning to the Pros as it were to seek some varied and hopefully passionate advice.  

Disclaimer - I tend to buy used as I have tastes that appreciate the A/B-class but have a D-class budget, so something that used to be $8,000 new that can be gotten for say $2200 now is right on the mark.  Of course it must still be relevant and likely remain so for the next couple of years.  But age doesnt matter otherwise....

I am currently running a bryston 2B (which itself was an upgrade from a Myryad T40), with a Cal Audio dac and dynaudio countour 1.8 floor-standing speakers.  this is the guts - i use a sony blue-ray player for the occasional movie, but mostly listening to music (which is all over the place, jazz, rock, opera, classical, etc, and more recently, the dreaded Pandora channeled through the phone and a input jack)

What research I have been able to do leads me to consider opening up the sound stage with something more mixed, like a conrad johnson pv14L as pre- and the ayre v5xe, and coming forward in the age of digital, considering something like the oppo 105 but i was also thinking the nad m50 / m52 combo instead of the oppo..........and lastly all this heard through (I'm thinking) vienna accoustics beethoven baby grands

so maybe the whole thing comes in at 8k - 10k?  can I achieve 80% - 90% of this for 5k? or less even?  Is my mixology fraught with disaster?  am I missing something obvious?  

i dont know what I dont know here so please weigh in 

thanks for your consideration and insights
jammer66
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
I should listen to my cd collection more - but they are mostly representative of the older sampling methods so somewhat obsolete/incomplete. 

This is the area where you can benefit most from an upgrade. Modern digital technology has improved the old Redbook format by leaps and bounds. A high quality DAC mated with a transport, such as Cambridge or PS Audio, now reveals detail in CD's never before possible. There are so many threads now stating how members are enjoying the sonics coming from those silver disks.

If you have a large CD collection, then maybe you should head in this direction.
Multibit DACs are able to process 16/44 Redbook in its native form and the result is a more natural, realistic sound from digital.
DSD capabile DACs can process SACD and hires files resulting in excellent SQ.





gdnrbob
4,447 posts
 
I am in thrall with streaming music, at the moment.
So much is changing that I am hesitant to invest in an ultimate solution, so I opt for what gives me the best reproduction for the least amount of money. Hence, the Ayre Codex. 
I use it between a Bluesound Node and my preamp. I can't find anything else for the money that gives me the flexibility and sound quality.
B
jammer66 OP
10 posts
 
I see that - dedicated streaming.  Do you have a cd source?  Looking at DAC players from the suggestions here (and elsewhere) the trickiness associated with jitter - and where the clock impacts the process - etc - is all very complex and not necessarily transparent in product descriptions.

Linn appears to prefer clock-with-dac...but dont get mentioned in the best performer lists..... the NAD M51 is integrated I'd have to dig deep (or trust the Stereophile rankings....and if i store everything on the M52 is it transferrable once the M52 dies???)....Cambridge DAC I guess pairs with their transport like Linn - but with the clock phasing make a difference? will i be able to tell?

amazing that you can spend a fortune (like dcs rossini) on this stuff and I am not sure (to your point) what the longevity is or what the sonic differences (to me ears) may be.

its enough to make you want a glass of wine.....or bourbon.....
abnerjack
208 posts
 
I am in agreement with gdnrbob regarding streaming.  I can't overstate how impressed I am with the Tidal streaming service.  I have no need for cds or  the music I have on my hard drive.  I stream Tidal through my pc into the dac on my Simaudio Moon Supernova and cannot believe how good it sounds and  I now have access to  the literally millions of tracks they offer.  They claim 40 million songs and growing each day.  If we say 10 songs per album, that give you 4 million albums to choose from.  If you don't want to utilize a computer, some of the other people here can advise a different device.

I felt the same way about the Mog service before they were gobbled up by Dray, then Itunes/Apple, and they are no more.  I worry that the same thing might happen to Tidal, which as many of you know is owned by Jay z.  
terry9
2,341 posts
 
Bryston builds a fine amplifier, and always did. But newer is definitely better. You could do worse than visit the local Bryston dealer and listen to the speakers that he likes to pair with it. Doesn't mean you have to buy that exact system, but most companies retain a similar kind of sound. If you find something you like, you'll be miles ahead, because you can ask more detailed questions; and that reduces risk a lot.
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