Does an upgrade make sense?


I may be coming down with the upgrade bug, and I’m open to suggestions. I’m quite happy with what I have—excellent imaging, musicality, dynamics. Maybe I could use a little more depth (left right is fine and speakers truly disappear), and maybe a touch more dynamics.

Almost everything I listen to is Qobuz streaming or hi res and flac files from a NAS (hard drive). My system:

Cambridge 851 Streamer/DAC

Bel Canto Pre5

Bel Canto Ref 500 monoblocks

Dali Mentor 6 floorstanders

Everything sits on maple plinths, Gaia iiis, or pucks.

Cabling is mid range Morrows. I previously had Kimber KS1116s but sold them as the Morrows sounded just as good, on the current set up.

What do I need to get more of everything? Speakers? DAC, Streamer? Amp?

tomaswv

Showing 1 response by rick_n

You already know this but the sound stage depth will be limited by how far your speakers are from the wall.  Since you can't move them further away from the front wall  I suggest removing the TV and filling the space with a diffuser.  This will effectively "move the wall back" a bit.  Also, swapping the glass front pictures with something non-reflective will also help.  IMO this is the best upgrade you can make at this point.  Adding better/more expensive gear will have the benefits compromised by the room not being optimized.

 

I totally agree with the addition of a pair of subs.  Bass traps really help in a two channel system.  My soundstage became much cleaner after adding mine.  Good luck and cheers.