Products you added to your system in 2021 that made most impact to your music enjoyment
As 2021 comes to an end, just thought it would be cool to share some of the most impactful audio upgrades in your system this year?
Here’s my top 5 list…
1. Pass Labs XP-12: Upgrade path was from Rogue RP-1 to Rogue RP-5 and then to Pass XP-12 that was the final touch. Huge improvements across the board. Mates well with my Rogue ST-100 tube amp.
2. Phono Cartridge: Goldring E3 MM to Hana EL MC. Clarity, presentation, dynamics in spades!
3. Phono Pre: From the built in phono pre in RP-1 and RP-5 to MoFi UltraPhono to Sutherland KC Vibe MkII. Lowered noise floor, increased resolution, dynamics. The KC Vibe MkII is almost double the cost of the MoFi and it’s the one of the few upgrades where an improvement was proportional to the cost difference. At least in my system. Records that seemed noisy become more listenable. A great little phono pre.
4. Audience AU24sx speaker cables. These speaker cables are a clear window into a recording. Nothing hidden, nothing exaggerated.
5. Power Cords: Acoustic Zen Gargantua for preamp and amp. Lower noise floor, increased resolution, natural sound, expanded soundstage
Honorable mentions:
1. Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper interconnects. In my opinion the AZ cables don’t get the respect they deserve on these forums anymore, overshadowed by some of the “flavor of the day” newcomers (without going into specifics on brands).
2. Puritan PSM156 power conditioner.
3. Supra Cat8 Ethernet cable.
4. Lumin U1 Mini
5. MoFi LP#9 Stylus Cleaner. Better than the Onzo ZeroDust although I still use the Onzo between the sides.
A pristine (stock) pair of Quad ESL 63's with QuadroPro stands. These were purchased from a widow who had stored them in original boxes for 25 or 30 years. The intention was to rebuild them as a winter project. After 2 months of playing them every day, in place of my Martin Logan panels, I have no reason to dismantle them as they continue to amaze....
Until they fail... they stay put... incredible tech.
2021 was a year of Enjoyment of my existing system: very few changes made. The one thing that did get changed and truly was an upgrade what is the inclusion of Morrow audio speaker cables. What an unveiling of detail they brought. Happy holidays to all
I upgraded my speakers from KEF R300 bookshelf to Spatial Audio Sapphire M5s, open baffle. Next, I went from an SVS SB2000 subwoofer to a REL T/9x. The KEFs were sounding a bit tinny and shrill, so getting the large Spatials really smoothed things out. The RELs are also smoother than the SVS—the blend is cleaner. Really good results all around.
I replaced a Bryston 4B ST with a Rogue Atlas Magnum 2; the hardness I'd sometimes got through my Maggie 1.7s, particularly on female vocals, is gone. Bass is a tad less tight, but a little richer, there's more air, and vocals are more nuanced; an excellent upgrade here.
I also replaced a DacMagic with a Denafrips Ares 2; a worthy upgrade in all ways.
Most importantly, I retired, and now have almost unlimited time to listen.
By far the biggest improvement in terms of minimizing room effects, adding resolution and dimensionality comes through completing a proper Dirac Live 3.1.2 project.
We also added the Hypex Nc400 Mono Blocks, which replaced our Mark Levinson No. 27. They sound a little better, but what's really nice is the fact that they are so lightweight and easy to move around.
I added the internal DAC card in my Aesthetix Mimas integrated amplifier to replace my Ayre Codex. The improvement was very significant despite the relatively low cost of the DAC card. The only other change I made was to upgrade my AQ Castle Rock speaker cables to AQ Robin Hood Silver Zero and Bass. Another big improvement. For 2022 I will be replacing the Musical Surroundings Nova II phono stage with the Aesthetix internal phono card for the Mimas.
The Karousel main bearing for my Linn. The purchase of an Esoteric K-03XD SACD/CD Player.
But for me, the most enjoyable audio purchases this year will be to install a system in our very non audiophile friends new home by a lake. It will be built around an Outlaw Receiver (sitting in its box in the dining room) with a Project Turntable with a simple Audio Technica cartridge, model escapes me (the red stylus model), Axiom speakers on really nice 4 post sand filled stands. No cd player yet. All cables. All equipment on a Lovan 4 tier three leg stand where all the shelves are isolated with separate spikes from each other. I'll be setting this up on or around Christmas as a gift. Now if I can just convince them to move the tv or mount it on the wall above the system. And analyzing this further, am I doing this for our friends or for myself ? He did say he needed something to play records on.
I subscribed to Qobuz but was not happy with the sound until I added an Ether Regen switch and a 1/2 meter Pangea ethernet cable to my Bryston BDP2. It is now very close to downloads played through the same device. The switch made the biggest difference but the cable put the finishing touch on sound quality.
An Audioflow 4-way wifi speaker selector switch. Loving the differences in speakers now that it's convenient to swap. Between Odyssey Lorelei w kismet upgrades, engineering standard Revel M20's, Audio Nirvana 8" alnico FR's. Happy happy happy.
1. Paper under the router
2. Paper under the switch
3. Paper under the streamer
4. Paper under the DAC
And before you make fun of it, put two plates on top of each other and listen to the noise. Then put one piece of paper on a plate and then the other one on top and it's almost silent. The damping of paper is enormous!
first post and a confession, not sure if I’m an audiophile, but I am a musician and for me, listening to music is like a sacrament. The point for me prob isn’t accuracy or fidelity as much as it is about it being transported into place, time, state, etc.
I had a very rudimentary setup with a pretty awful pioneer consumer receiver (Sx-303R) and pioneer floor standers (CS-M551s), streaming from Apple TV and Lg Tv optical out, however I mainly listened to vinyl on a fluance rt81 and Pro-Ject pre. The whole point of this Craigslist find was to see if my family could handle living with an audio setup, esp the floorstanders in the living room. Good news, they even liked the pioneer setup! It was passable for me, but now that the use case was established, time to spend some $$.
my new rig began with replacing the crap receiver with a Peachtree nova 150. It was like those old pioneers came to life. Everyone (and not a one an “audiophile”) who had heard the old amp was astonished by he improvements made with the Nova 150. Wife approved! This was easily the biggest improving factor this year.
not to be outdone, the Zu Omen Dirty Weekends I ordered last March *finally* came in on 12/6 and I’m blown away. The clarity and surprisingly, the bass output, is exceptional. Even running lossless from my iPad I feel like I am front row of a club show when I listen to Andrew Bird’s “MFWY,” and like I’m in the room with Bruce when listening to Nebraska on vinyl. John Stirrat’s bass slap on “Jesus etc.” was something I had never noticed before, and I promise I’ve listened to that record hundreds of times. Nick Cave’s “Ghosteen” moved me to tears. This is why we do this, right?
I have the new bluenode streamer coming in on Monday to make life easier for everyone in the house to enjoy the rig. I’ve heard some don’t love the dac, but if my iPad sounds this good into my peachtree…
I can see upgrades down the line, like an orchard audio Dac, or a Technics SL 1500, but for the foreseeable future, I’m off the treadmill, enjoying the pleasure of listening to my favorites “again for the first time.”
I hope your holiday is filled with peace, contemplation, and bangin’ good music.
My biggest changes were transducers on either end of my little system.
Decided to take the plunge on my favorite Koetsu and picked up a new Vermilion. In spite of Koetsu changing the body shape and eliminating the threaded mount, I’m glad to report that it is all there in pure flesh and blood. Experiencing this lowest impedance model into a transimpedance phono stage really is the best of all worlds!
After many years of enjoyment with my analog active Meridian M20s, It was time to relieve them. Breaking in a pair of Dynaudio Heritage Special has been interesting to say the least, but happy to say they are quickly (~200+ hrs.) becoming everything I’ve heard on demos and very worthy successors. While others may be able to comment, it seems as if my hearing is/was attuned to the active tweeter delay circuit in the Meridians and I believe Dyna has done something similar in their seemingly complex 1st order passive networks that just jives with me. Cinema-scope imaging and tone/texture to die for. Detail monsters that never loose sight of music’s emotion.
Also stepped up my IC signal cables to Audience Front Row with speaker cables next on the list. Those Jeff Day mentioned White Lightening spkr cables are filling in for the meantime extremely well.
With passive speakers requiring power, I broke out my sweetheart Accuphase P250 fully updated with the new Hovenga Driver Board Upgrade from Paul @ Many Moons. Such a great vintage amplifier made even better. The well worn cliche’ “wire with gain” fully applies.
It’s been a nice ride with synergy in spaces. Need more records!!
Upgraded my preamp to a Pass XP-32. Nice upgrade. This is a wonderfully detailed and natural sounding SS pre. Very, Very quiet. Great sound stage and wonderful imaging both right and left and front and back. My previous pre was a Cary SPL 05 with the SE upgrade, which was great but all in all not at the level of the Pass. The Pass lets me hear deeper into the music and makes my speakers and room totally disappear. Also, nice not having to drop $$$$ on vintage NOS 6SN7 tubes. Also, upgraded to Nordost Tyr II speaker cables from Frey II. More expansive sound stage and more micro detail. Very happy with the new additions.
NAD Master Series M32 integrated amplifier with Bluos expansion module. Purchased at clearance price of 45% discount due to end of product life as it has been recently replaced by the newly released M33. Happiness is.
Upgraded from a pair of 21yr. old Thiel CS2.3 to Vandersteen Quatro CT yesterday. With less than 24hrs. on them, I am grinning from ear to ear with how much more musical they sound. The active bass really does demonstrate how fundamental those low frequencies are to the music.
Got some Quad S2‘’s at great price. Even on cheap sand filled stands, they sound really glorious. Then upgraded to a Topping D70s. What an outstanding and rather overlooked dac! Hits way above its price point.
Listening space is small, but hoping to get a Rel t5/x after I control some of the room modes.
Curious about those Nobsound springs. Have had them in my Amazon shopping cue for a while. Great to see that many here have gotten improvements with them, so now I’ll need to try them too!
Audio Musikraft Lithium/Aluminum headshell w/Jatoba wood inserts, stuffed with the guts of a Denon DL-103R. Breathed a whole new life into my vintage Pioneer SX-1250/Denon DP-59L system with Ohm T1000 speakers.
Jay's-Audio CDT2-MK3 CD Transport... I sold my old 47-Labs Flatfish Transport (a great transport by the way !) and replaced it with the CDT2. The Flatfish used SPDIF output and the CDT2 has that and I2s which is what I chose as the interface to my Denafrips Terminator-Plus DAC. When I played the same CD I had loaded into my Innuos ZENith/Phoenix music-server/re-clocker on the CDT2, there was very little difference in the sound. Helped me enjoy spinning disc's again !
Lots of great stuff out there but, the winner of the best upgrade to my audio system has been the iFi Zen DAC v2. Period. It solves all my digital audio needs and it makes my HiFiMAN 400i planers sound amazing and “intimate” if you understand what that means in terms of the sound stage. 😎
Passive power conditioner attached straight to my Devialet 250Exp. Subtle, but noticeable improvement removing sharp transients, making sound more natural even on busiest of tracks. Great for long listening periods. Did compare with power conditioners and power distributors costing a lot more than a single Firewall.
Almost kicked the bucket from COVID this year, so treated myself to a brand new BAT VK-33 preamp to go with my BAT VK-225se power amp. An awesome combination that has expanded my enjoyment of music and has given me great joy during my convalescence. Also have bought a number of MFSL SACD titles which have really helped me appreciate high quality recordings with big dynamic range.
On a more budget oriented system starting out in this new hobby last year….
1- High Fidelity Cables NPS 1260 contact enhancer WOW!
2- Fuses QSA Yellow fuses in Raven Blackhawk and Black Ice Audio tube DAC
3- VHAudio ODAM V-Cap’s in my upgraded Jolida JD-9 tube phono preamp
4- Old Stock Tubes all around…Mullard F91 12ax7 1958 long plates in DAC and Phono Pre; Westinghouse 12au7 ‘60’s carbon plates, Mullard ‘50’s 12at7, Tungsram ‘60’s 12at7 in Amp.
5- Goldring 1022GX cartridge
6- Morrow interconnects
7- OCC speaker and USB cables
8- VH Audio Flavor 4 power cords
9- Panamax power conditioner
10- Nobsound springs under Speakers and Amp
High Fidelity Cable MC-1 Pro power conditioner (now on order)
I have to say that the addition of the Isoacoustics Gaia II's to my Usher speakers made a huge improvement to the overall sound of the speakers and system.
Also the addition of a Canare 75 ohm BNC terminated cable used between my word clock and cd/sacd player was an overall improvement over many very expensive 75 ohm cables, from JPS, Wireworld, Kimber, etc.
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