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 2 responses by sfgak

If you like the DALI house sound, it's very possible that upgrading your speakers may scratch your upgrade itch. I have the Epicon 6's and love them. Even so, I use a pair of Rythmik 12" sealed subs to get the very low end. It makes a difference, and I fully agree with @soix regarding the improvements in soundstage and imaging. But echoing others, the point of diminishing returns is a deeply personal one. 

+1 @socalml528 as well... just listening with eyes closed vs. open, light levels, etc., make a huge difference; by removing some senses from the listening experience, you improve the sense of hearing.

@soix Yeah, I forget which live jazz album I was listening to, but I got really annoyed at the table to the left of me making too much noise during the performance -- jostling and whispering... A great reminder of a great soundstage...