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Best Upgrade for 1,000- for my system

I have a pretty good system, I am about to get a 1,000 bonus from, work and I am just watering at the mouth on how to spend it, although I cannot decide.

My system is made up of:

Cal Audio cl-2500 preamp/processor
2 Harmon Kardon 7.1 amps
707 es Sony cd player
560d Sony Dvd Player
Lovan stands
Monstor Power 3500 Power Conditioner

Dynaudio contour 3.3, T2.1, Audience 52 (rears)

Audioquest Caldera, Anacondas,

I was considering a, Ps300, Power director, or Richard Grey unit, either 400 or the 2000

I think the power conditioning is the biggest weakest link, let me know your thoughts
infwgf
stehno
1,453 posts
 
1. Sell the Harmon Kardon amps and purchase an Odyssey Stratos amp for $995. Should be a FANTASTIC improvement. Check out the reviews at odysseyaudio.com for all the reviews.

2. Sell the cd and dvd players and purchase a Sony DVP s9000es dvd/SACD/cd player. Should be a decent improvement here. I just saw where somebody bought one new at J&R (jandr.com) for $899.

3. Get rid of the Monster PC and purchase the PS Audio 300 and a couple of PS Audio Power Port outlets.

4. Install a couple dedicated circuits/lines for your amp and pre. If you choose to install dedicated lines, you could get by with some PS Audio Ultimate outlets instead of the PS Audio 300.

If you sell those things and purchase the others, that should about use up your $1k and you would have done some seriously recognizeable sonic improvements.

-IMO
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Gee Stehno, you want him to replace his whole system!
infwgf OP
7 posts
 
Wow, your right Sugarbrie, Stehno really wants me to do some major operations to my system, Actually I do have one dedicated 20amp circuit going to system.

I like the idea of only having one transport for all my media, but the Sony 9000es Does not read CDR, I am waiting for the next generation 9000es to come out, which for sure will read CDR. The have a 900v or something that does read cdr and has everything the 9000es has except build quality.

My major concern was the Monster Power, becuase so many say its current limiting.

The citation amps are Great amps, and Awsome for the money, my next upgrade on those will be a Theta Dreadnaught more likely.
wywhcan
39 posts
 
You can pick up a used tube pre-amp for two channel audio.
I'm assuming you have the Citation 7.1 amps. If so, keep'em. You won't find a better bang for the buck.
stehno
1,453 posts
 
Sorry if my suggestions sounded strong, but with selling and buying, it's amazing what one can do with $1000. And you were looking for suggestions on upgrades.

Hopefully, the suggestions I made were sonically legitimate, cost effective, and allowed you to simplify your system configuration in the process.

-John
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