Next Best Upgrade for Tidal MQA?

@bruxesq

1 - stick to replacing the marantz with a proper preamp
2 - be careful when posters with a grand total of 2 posts tell you you should buy a $4000 digital appendage like an m scaler (don't get me wrong... a m scaler is a good piece, i have one, but it should not be your priority... not even close...)

@brux

tubed gear has a magic... thousands of us around the world would never have a high end system without at least tubes in one stage...we are not all deaf!

try it... you may well join the club!

rogue is well reputed, i have not had one... you may need to do a little searching if you must have the HT bypass, but they are out there... i know conrad johnsons have them in their linestages, which are truly excellent btw...

info provided is useful, but you need to say what is it about the sound of your system do you want improved while streaming...

@brux

ok, got it. i agree w jack d - priority 1 is get that marantz avr out of there - it is definitely the weak link

lots of good clean line stages out there, any one of them will improve the purity of sound by replacing the marantz receiver

you seem to like the clean and lean school of sound, more detail, rather than the other school which i would call the 'rich and saturated full fat cream' school... in which case i would say... the mytek dac is definitely in that school already, stick with it

most of the time folks who stream (and stream tidal) say that they want music that is richer in tone, more full and rounded (i.e. more analog in flavor), in which case I would suggest any of a number of different dacs

in your case, upgrade the preamp, remove the marantz, and see how you feel

happy to suggest various good pre’s... parasound jc2 is a good one if you like the brand, maybe even try a tubed unit see if that sound is something you like (dunno if you have had tube gear before)

good luck have fun

pretty minimal, but depends on model

for example the conrad johnson et5 runs just a single tube... they don't even vent the top panel...

some tube units, couple ss

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa5hcf-conrad-johnson-premier-17ls-tube -- has ht bypass they call it 'epl'

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa5418-audio-by-van-alstine-transcendence-10-sl-tube -- lower cost option to 'try' tubes - don't let price fool you, it is excellent sounding - not sure if it has ht bypass

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa3a50-ps-audio-bhk-signature-preamp-tube -- has ht bypass

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https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa46dg-classe-audio-cp-500-bal-single-ended-preamp-gorgeous-soli... -- you'll need to check on the ht bypass

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa5784-parasound-halo-jc-2-bp-solid-state

@bruxesq

i will chime in here, briefly with my 2 cents

imho qobuz is worth a trial - i believe they give 30 day free

tidal masters is excellent, know you have made investment in mqa via the mytek, i can easily live with it and be quite happy if quboz did not exist

but many audiophiles do prefer quboz (i would say a majority, like maybe 60-70% if i were to estimate) - to me it has a slightly more ’solid’ sound than tidal - tidal is a tiny bit more phasey/processed in direct comparison

so as you pursue better sound and system improvement i think it is worth a listen on your part (AFTER you get that proper linestage in... :) )

hear it for yourself brux

that is what matters

the difference to me is noticeable but slight in magnitude ... as i said i could live happily with either

cannot say that for spotify... 

@bruxesq

glad you found a unit you like and it could be done without the hassle of selling off a used unit

mytek's strength is definitely their excellent resolution/transparency

enjoy!!!