New to Audiogon. selling my whole system

Yes, Bruce Kutin from Ocean State Audio. He's still a friend of mine. Great guy and honest. I just got the Ayre 7xe from a friend. I will be buying the Vandy Treo and Audioquest cables from John Rutan at Audio Connection. Just a wonderful guy who loves his audio. He wants me to get the Music Hall DAC to keep the costs down as I also have to get a firewire and USB cable to do the rips from my macbook pro to my 1T portable HD. I need to figure out what format to rip etc... I like the whole system that I heard in his store. I wonder though if I should be looking at a better balanced DAC. I have heard the new NAD M51 and it has HDMI even (for my TV) and is 32 bit architecture. I"m still learning about digital but I want balanced as the Ayre just sounds SO much better having balanced inputs.
For AQcables, what are the best values in the lines? I will need speaker, balanced from DAC to amp and I think that's is since I will just rip all my CD;s to the portable HD via the firewire and then go USB to the DAC I end up with. I'll use my MIT interconnects etc... from the tv or cable box to the DAC I guess.

I was told to get at a min the DBS cables they make, but in all lines there are best value cables. ONLY if you've heard them, I'd like your feedback. I"ll listen to John of course, but curious to see if there is a diminishing return point for each type. Thanks to all for feedback. John will be selling everything I have as it's easier for him to make sure it's in it's best order and it's worth the money he'll charge me. I will sell the ProAc Super towers myself as they are too big for me to get down there and I'm still using them as they sound awesome as they have brand new drivers in them. They were upgraded teak if anyone has interest, lol. Thanks again to all.

Guys the Ayre will show up sometime next week he said. I'll hook them up and try them out to see if that does it for me, but the Vandy's just played music. Details and able to throw a nice and realistic sound stage and imaging was wonderful. John will bring them over when I buy them, but it's a 2.5 hour drive so I wouldn't be able to try them in my own space. Sucks, but that's reality for me I guess.

I think John can get me the NAD DAC since he does sell NAD, so that's a possiblity I guess. I have been offered that DAC locally for 1600 for a new one and that seemed great. In that price range what would you folks recommend? It has to be balanced.

Guys, thanks. Great thread here. As for John and Audio Connection, I like that he's into music even more than gear and he puts things together that sound good together. I was able to get that ayre integrated and it will be here on Tuesday. I can't wait to hook it up to the current system to hear how it make it sound. I have been fortunate to listen to so many systems that are out there as I have been to many folks homes (the new brick and mortar I guess) as well as many stores. I admit that I lean towards more established companies if I can get most if not all what I want for similar cost. I have heard well over 50 speakers in the last few months and I listened to them on the amps that the folks felt showed them off best. I can't do tubes anymore, so those are all out. Too bad, but I have found Hegel and Ayre both sound/tube like, but both handle bass really really well. That's why I went with Ayre. I've heard them with Dynaudio, Kharma, Focal, Paradigm Signature, Vandy's, Pro Ac, B&W, Legacy, PSB, Wilson, and a bunch more I can't remember, lol. I have also like the Pass amps a ton and have heard them with a few speakers with ceramic/Rhadio (spelling) ribbons.

Don't want to go over 50" tall and want a thinner profile. I also realize that I can afford true bass down to the mid/low 30's. I have missed that with my supertowers I think, although they go pretty low when the music does.

I have loved the Vandy 5 Carbon, Quatro Wood Carbon and Treos. I have heard them through various amps and DAC's. The Music Hall seems like a really nice DAC for the price. I wouldn't mind stepping up teh DAC, but not sure how much I can afford when it's all said and done, so a 500 DAC is a bargain as I can sell it off later when I want to upgrade that area.

I have heard many cables and was an MIT guy since day one. I even used Bruce's Monster Cables that he invented in the 70's. I'm selling off all my MIT stuff. I have heard the AQ with DBS vs Nordost, Tara, Kimber (I still have some speaker cables that I have liked), Straight Wire and many others. I always felt AQ was great marketing and not that great, but I've been so impressed. AGain, I hated Vandy and loved Pro Ac until I heard both side by side at John's. I have always listened to my ears, lol. I like a musical presentation that goes low in a tuneful way and not boomy. I like a coherent speaker and have never liked subs as they are so hard to set up properly. In many of the newer company's designs, I've heard exotic drivers that just don't go together. So many remind me of the old Apogees with dynamic subs attached. I also don't think there are huge differences between most of the newer 15k speakers and the 5k speakers. I think the biggest difference is the amount and quality of bass you purchase. It's always been that way and still is. If you get midrange right and have GREAT bass that legit goes into the mid 30's then piano will sound RIGHT. Those just seem like the best sounding speakers to me.

I think I'm looking for a DAC that costs in the 1-1.5K range that has up to date specs (seems so important to DACS although sound is still the driver) that bests the Music Hall by a lot. If not, I'll go the later route for now at least.

As for shows or clubs, I'd love to know more about them. Problem is I don't do things like that alone for the most part. I like to attend with like minded folks who love music and gear. I make no apologies about loving gear too. Are there clubs in CT? If so, please let me know.

Thank for the thanks for serving. It was all my pleasure and I miss it. I love driving wheeled vehicles, lol. I can't do what I used to do, due to my MS, but as Long as they let me drive and I'm safe for all on the road, I'll do it, lol.

what a thread, lol. My MIT 770 cables were voiced for tubes. They sound great on tubed gear and are still as good if not better than most cables I've heard, however the comparisons aren't fair because I'm listening to many different systems. That's the biggest problem in all of audio. The ears win and I trust my ears. I have been hearing so many different brands of cables recently that it blows my mind. I have a friend who use to be in the industry and in the beginning it was much smoke and mirrors for many companies, including some well known ones. things are different. Grain structure and skin effect are very real. RF interference is HUGE in all electronics. Some companies have figured out ways to fix some of these problems.

I remember so well when Transparent and MIT had their falling out. They went after each other's dealers with venom. Guys, I've been around the audiophile block a few times and have lived on the block since 71. There is more corruption with reviewers than the payola scandals of early radio. That's reality. Many reviewers even use different names. The most obvious is Tom Gillete/Sam Tellig. So many didn't realize it was the same person, lol. That takes nothing away from his/his reviews.

I was just looking for folks input for price vs performance of speaker cable only in the AQ line. I am buying a system. In the end, I'll listen for myself and figure out what I like best, but was curious as to what others like and why they didn't spend more or the reason they DID spend more. So far I have been forced to trust John at AudioConnections, Verona NJ. I'm a new customer there, but I've agreed with everything he's shared with me so far. He's similar to my old friend Bruce from Ocean State Audio. Our ears must be similar because we are sensitive the the same things. I do know that once you get into the DBS line of AQ, it's HUGE for a quiet noise floor.

The biggest irony going into all of this was that I was open minded, but felt I would end up with ProAc D2's (I love monitors) and MIT cables. I wasn't sure what electronics I could afford and would sound great. I knew that I wasn't interested in auditioning Vandy nor AQ products and I never liked what I heard from them many years ago.

This just shows how much products and lines have changed over the years. I have not heard Vandy's under the Treo, but I love the new Quatros, Treo and 5's. I have yet to hear any other speaker that comes close for me. I have auditioned most of the speakers out there that are real companies that sell for 5-35k. There are a few I haven't been able to hear, but most are much more than I can/will afford even used and I won't waste someone's time listening to a speaker that I can only afford used. That's not fair to a dealer IMHO.

Great thread and thanks to all. Well, I just got my used Ayre AX7E and hooked it up with my ProAc Supertowers. WOW. What a difference. It's like they are new speakers and damn good ones. I still want the Vandy Treo's, but I can honestly sell the Proacs to someone and tell them that they will be hard pressed to find anything close to them for the price (probably around 1300 or so as they have brand new drivers). They actually sound darn good and I'm listening to music like I used to when I had the Quickies hooked up to them. It's fun again. Now figuring out if I go with the Music Hall 25.3 DAC or do I look at other DAC's. I must go true balanced as that's the only inputs I have left, lol, plus it sounds best with the Ayre.