Anticipating next upgrade after B&W 803 D3?

Thanks jkmcc for your comments.  I am considering the Qutest chord but approaching cautiously. Need to learn a lot more about dac offerings.  Price of m scaler upgrade is huge.
Having Done many upgrades Over a short period it speaks to going more slowly and learning more.  So DACs under review now.   

@jjss49 

Thank you for your notes about the Qutest. I look forward to having it in my system for the long term. 
And again, to @emergingsoul, If you like your speakers, have fun building your system around them.

Best, John

@jkmcc

glad you made your post after lurking for so long... you have an excellent system, i am sure it sounds just wonderful, very musically well rounded from what i know about your various pieces

re the qutest - 3 points:

if u want a broader set of viewpoints, suggest u post in digital section - this question is out of place here in this thread, you won’t get full breadth

i am very familiar w it, it is a lovely sounding unit, exceptionally clear and rhymthic, great imaging. one of the best in the price range - having said this, i would say the chords are in the ’very clear and not romantic’ camp of sound - other competing top dacs are more rounded, fuller in their sound, so it is a matter of system matching - it may well fir perfectly in your system w vtl into vandy's -- both are on the warmer lusher side of neutral

the qutest has several selectable digital filters built in, so the sound can be tailored to some degree, but even on its slowest/mildest filter it will still be on the 'clean and clear' side... you can also add the m-scaler (for $$$) and it takes the smoothness and ease of presentation of the qutest up a couple notches

hope this helps

I would also agree with soix. As is clear from my lack of posts around here I rarely post on any audio sites but I do read them when I am in the process of demoing or acquiring new gear; something I do rarely. But today, I find myself sitting in a shady spot in our backyard with one of our dogs on an incredibly hot day here in southern California, 110° maybe? And I thought I would just chime in to offer my thimbleful of pertinent experience around this subject. I have managed to assemble a satisfying system that gives me a satisfying listening experience in my real life living room with the sorts of flaws one finds in a real life living room. The system is rather modest in some respects, I have a pair of Vandersteen II CE Sigs that I bought from Brooks Berdan about 15 years ago. They have basically been the constant element in the system over the years. The rest of my system consists of a VPI Scout with a Hana SL cart, a 12 or 13 year old Rega Apollo cdp, and a Bluesound Vault2i into a BAT VK 30 pre into a VTL S200 amp. Upgrading to the scout from my Thorens TD 145 that I’ve owned since I was 16 was a significant upgrade. Upgrading to the Apollo from the thrift shop Phillips cdp was an upgrade. Adding the VK 30 in place of some kind of integrated was a major upgrade. But adding the VTL in place of the NAD 216 amp was an !ENORMOUS! upgrade. I bought it used, but it still felt like I paid a breathtaking amount of money for it. A year and a half on do I think it was worth it? You bet! I love that amplifier. Soundstage, depth, articulation, coherence, effortlessness, complete control. My listening sessions are so much fun. And I feel secure knowing that if I do at some point upgrade my speakers, there’s basically no limit to how far I could go realistically go with that amplifier as the sonic foundation. When I added the detail to my system I was shocked that an amplifier could make a difference of such significance. There was nothing subtle about it, as we like to say. So that’s my two cents. I hope the original poster finds it of some use. By the way I think I ended up in this thread because I’m currently demoing a Chord Qutest DAC and I was looking for other impressions of it. I have to say that the Qutest, which I was able to borrow from my dealer for the long weekend, has made another significant sonic improvement to what comes out of the Bluesound box and the Apollo. Fortunately, my wife also agrees with me. In other words I’m going to buy it. Have a great weekend! Best, John

hehehe

soix drops the hammer

op - hegel h190 is worth consideration, or an older h160 or 360 if you will use your current DAC

Soix is correct. ^^^^

My system has the b&w’s, McIntosh 5 channel amp biwired and a bluesound node 2i and a marantz 5014 avr used as a preamp. i am now seriously exploring the Chord Qutest dac and maybe the m scaler

Speakers? Dude! Your first priority should be a very nice stereo integrated amp (Hegel, Ayre, etc.) or stereo separates to do your speakers some justice and a good DAC ASAP followed by a better streamer. That mid-fi AVR, among other things, is absolutely killing your sound. Preamps matter!!!

The ATI N series amp in 2, 3, 4, 5 channel configuration will blow your MAC 5, even in bi-amp mode. Don’t get hung up on watts, ATI class D 200W power amps with massive power supply will drive your power hungry B&W like no other amp. 

https://www.ati-amp.com/AT54XNC.php

I am biamping ( wronging stated by me as being biwired above) the b&w speakers with the 5 channel Mac.  This should go far to solve any powering needs for the 803’s.

Looks like OP got HT setup. Start with source before you think about changing speakers, Bluesound Node 2i is the weakest link in your system. Adding a decent DAC to Node 2i will improve sound but.....If you’re serious about retrieving best possible sound out of 803D3 and 2 ch audio, get a better 2 ch amp with a tube or solid state preamp that has HT Bypass. Get rid of 5 ch MAC and use Marantz 5014 AVR for HT. Until you do this, don’t bother upgrading your speakers. You will be wasting your money!!!!!

I have been through this transition. My HT setup had B&W 800D2, 804D2, HTM2D2, SCMS with Krell Evolution 707 processor and Krell Evo 302 / ATI N Series amps.

@emergingsoul it's not the speaker its the mac causing what you are hearing. Before a speaker change borrow anything you can that will power the speakers it will save you a lot of $$$$

calling soix  :)

My system has the b&w’s, McIntosh 5 channel amp biwired and a bluesound node 2i and a marantz 5014 avr used as a preamp.
i am now seriously exploring the Chord Qutest dac and maybe the m scaler, which seems to be the holy grail to amazing sound. Never knew how much fun the world of dac’s could be.

To my ears, Joseph Audio speakers do everything better than a comparable B&W model while sounding more musical and just bringing more life and believability to sound. That’s what I heard comparing the original Pulsars to the 804 D3 last year and in other direct comparisons in the past, so I’d think there’d be a similar differential between the Perspective 2 and the 803 D3. If you’re looking for even more, go hear the Pearl 3s but don’t blame me if you hate your 803s afterward.  I’d venture I could say similar things for Vandy, ProAc, and Usher among others, but I’ve not done direct comparisons with those. Again, that’s just my ears and FWIW.

Well, you learn something every day!  I've never heard of Peak Consult.

“oh, they sound terrific.   But looking for improvement that’s all.”

Can you be more specific in what areas you’re seeking improvements? It would be also helpful to know rest of your system. 

If you've got the dough to burn, then have at it.

oh, they sound terrific.   But looking for improvement that’s all.

As a pool and chess player I am always looking ahead a few shots and the rush when buying something new.

Trust me, it's the room. Think about room size and treatments, if any.

+1 Kenjit

Only had them a few months?

803 D3s are not exactly base model, have you taken into consideration the countless number of factors that may be causing them to not sound good to your ears from equipment to room aspects?

You're on the fast track to the poor house .....and where you'll not be satisfied.

The next step depends on what was wrong with them. Otherwise you will simply be going round in circles.