There have been several changes this year, but two stand out.

Replacing my Cornwall IV (great speakers!) with Lascala II

Buying a Denafrips Pontus II

Honorable mention goes to the Allnic T-2000 and Soundsmith Carmen II

Oz

 

Geez, forgot that I also bought Tannoy Turnberry GRs.

Perfectly matched to my Primaluna Evo 400 power amp.

It certainly was the biggest improvement this year.

 

 

One of the main items I changed was an upgrade from Transparent Super Gen 5 interconnects to Transparent Ultra Gen 6 interconnects from my Linn Selekt DSM to a McIntosh D150.

I have been a customer of Transparent for 20 years and I have been totally blow away by this update. I know cables are controversial but I can honestly say the whole system is revealing low end content and detail that was never there before the swap.

Will probably change out the speaker cable as well to Ultra thru the upgrade program.

Changed my entire system in the past 15 months. Retired but saving a lot by not traveling. But the two most drastic changes have been the cartridge and, surprisingly, the speaker platforms. Specifically, the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL and Townshend Seismic Platforms. For sure, the Lyra was an incredible improvement over my Mayijima Shalabi but the Podiums were right up there with the SQ. Never imagined that vibration control on my speakers could be this major!

Found a used Schiit SOL TT and have been enjoying the results of some fine tuning of the setup including isolation, cartridge alignment, changing the back of the pod that holds cables, to accept a DIN connector. Then rerouted the motor power switch next to the motor for much easier access. Point is, when all is said and done, this kit makes beautiful music.

Analog domain: Hana EL cartridge ( replaced MoFi StudioTracker) as an add to my Technics 1500C

Digital domain: Add Technics SL-G700 SACD player/streamer via balanced inputs

Receiver: Replaced Yamaha RX-A3080 with Yamaha RX-A8A (huge difference though A8A has a few quirks)

Remainder of system: Martin Logan 60 XTI fronts, ML 50 XTI center, ML Dynamo 1600 Sub, PS Audio Stellar 300 powering stereo front via balanced interconnects

1. Linear Power Supply for Planar 8
2. Ania to Apheta 3 for Planar 8
3. Cambridge Audio DAC Magic Plus to Merason DAC 1
4. Vintage Custom JBL 3 Way 4520/4530/C36 Hybrid to DeVore O/96 

The KEF R3’s that I still have on loan from a friend.

Orchard Audio Ultra Amplifier.

Bluesound Node 2i

My own Open Baffle Debacles with integrated dual stacked 12” H-Frame Subwoofer section.

more homebrew room treatment - Skyline diffusers and 24”x24” absorbers.. !

Four AST Acoustics bass traps!

Built a stereo pair of DIY Linkwitz Labs Phoenix (Alt) open-baffle subwoofers to mate with LXmini mains. ’Alt’ means using Tymphany Peerless XLS 83500 (Denmark) drivers instead of the 4 original-spec 12" drivers. Now the bass is as articulate and transparent as the LXmini - perfect pairing.

Also incorperated a pair of Hypex FA-series plate amps into each of those subs, so now the active crossover/DSP functions and Ncore amplification for the entire system is all handled at the subs. This means that (other than mechanical sources: CD and phono) there is only one piece of gear needed (streamer/preamp) - essentially downsized and uncomplicated like a ’lifestyle’ system.

The streamer/preamp could be anything, and I’ve tried several options; Node, NAD M12, and currently using C658 (to play with Dirac). Might try a Lyngdorf or miniDSP Studio or Pi w/hat in the future.

I sold this year the Wavac m 805 , and bought the Vac phi 300.1.  Upgrade my speakers from Ilumnia Magister MKI  to the Ilumnia Magister  MKII, and bought the streamdrive : Moon Mind 2.

@oddiofyl  You should have fun with the 300B amp. I have custom built 300B monoblocks, 300B sweetheart tube.

 

Speaking of recent purchases, latest Psvane Acme 300B and Linlai Elite 101D for Coincident Statement pre. Boutique 300B's  worth the added expense!

 

Other than the  tubes, constant experiments, upgrading of streaming network components.

So many cool toys!!!   I am having a 300b amp built but it won’t be here til sometime early next year .   I look at my other hobbies and those of my friends and I’m pretty sure my money spent on audio has given the most satisfaction per dollar of anything.    I listen a few hours a day , sometimes many hours..... every day.  Not impacted by the weather and seasons 

I switched from a Schiit Modi Multibit ver 1 DAC to an old SMSL M8 DAC that I had from a previous headphone desk top set up.  The Schiit gave things a muddy boomy bass.  The SMSL M8 cleaned up the bass without taking anything away from the mids and highs.  The channel separation and imaging seems to be better also.

Circle Labs A200 hybrid integrated amp. Best I've owned over ~40 years of developing systems.

The Denafrips Pontus II DAC + IRIS DDC combo yielded a quantum leap in SQ over my previous DAC, the Schiit Modi Multibit. 

Upped my streamer game..hint the ethernet tweaks are major improvements.. I had a T2 and I think if I had upgraded my signal path I may not have gone for the X1 (but who’s kidding who..found a used one on Agon).....Not shown are PSUs for the EtherRegen, AfterDark clock and the Roon Nucleus and other cables (as well as use of an optical cable from EtherRegen to streamer).

Member @ozzy was very kind in helping sort out these changes. Info can be mined here (PS Direct Stream Vs. Lumin X 1 Sound quality difference?)

 

EtherREGEN...They will call you back if you have questions.

 

A very comfortable listening chair. 

 

Lumin X1 Yeah baby!

Signature <Lumin X1> Silver DC Cable Seriously...yes!

Power cord for X1 These folks are a relative bargain and do great work!

Improved clock for the EtherREHGN AFTERDARK. PROJECT CLAYX GIESEMANN OCXO 10MHZ REFERENCE MASTER CLOCK

 

Roon Nuckeus... Far better SQ than from Computer

 

And this changed my listing expertise more than words can say. To me Roon is Pandora’s box on steroids times ten espressos, making love like teenagers or the superlative of your choosing.

I forgot to include used KLH model 9 speakers.

Custom made pure silver speaker wires for my Tannoy super tweeters on my Tannoy Churchill’s. Wow soundstage and clarity in spades. 

My new Hagerman Trumpet MC phono stage.

Best $2000 I never spent...because it costs about $1000 and sounds like $3000+. 

 

 

 

 

Puritan 156 power conditioner

Silent Angel Bonn 8 network switch

SVS SB1000 Pro Subwoofers (pair)

Wilson Sasha 2's

Just like oddiofyl, 2021 was also a major revamp for me. 

Things I kept:

1. Music Hall mmf5 table from the early 2000s, along with original Goldring MM cartridge

2. Vandersteen 2ce floor demos purchased in 1994 with stands

Replaced several pieces of equipment and bought a few new ones:
1. Audiolab 6000a for preamp
2. Audiolab 6000cdt for CD transport
3. 2-Audiolab DC Blocks (one for the preamp and one for the CD transport)
3. Music Hall PA15.3 phono preamp
4. Cambridge Audio DACMagic 200M
5. Blue Jeans coax interconnects and analog RCA interconnects
6. Sony  BDP-S6700 blu-ray player (used as a poor man's flac server - currently digitizing my CDs)
7. 2-AudioSource Amp100VS amps for monoblocks
8. A bunch of Suwimut Acoustic Sound Diffuser Panels
9. A bunch of Hudson Hi-Fi 1.25" platinum silicone isolation feet
10. Hudson Hi-Fi 13 oz. BigBen table weight
11. Runsheng Disc Demagnetizer (from alibaba)
12. Southwire 12 awg solid thhn shielded copper wire for speakers (from Lowes)
13. Inexpensive banana plugs (from Lowes)
14. 4-Quiet-Line MkIII Power Filters
15. Several Shakti Air Stones and several Shakti On-Lines

Also purchased a Pioneer TX-530 am/fm tuner for $20 at a flea market. No great expectations here - it works.

Currently waiting on the following:
1. Viborg MBU1501 Power Cable, 16pcs Multiplex Copper IEC320 C13 Mains Cord with VM502+VF502 (1.5M)
2. iFi Low Noise DC power supply 9V
3. Wyred 4 Sound Remedy Reclocker (the 9V iFi power supply is for this)
4. Blue Jeans Toslink interconnect (could only afford one of the Remedy's, so the Toslink is needed for the transport and a coax will be used for the Sony blu-ray flac server (manually switch inputs as needed))
5. 2-C13 to C14 14/3 awg power cords (for the 2 DC Blocks)

Definitely a lot of (relatively) inexpensive purchases over a period of several months. (I haven't won the Lotto yet, and I'm on a fixed income now.)

If the Viborg cable helps the Audiolab DC Block for the preamp, then I'll get another one for the CD transport DC Block.

The DIY tweaks seem to have made an improvement, as far as I can hear. The shielded, solid copper wire sounds a lot better to me than the shielded, copper stranded wire. And the banana plugs seem to work out fine.

The Quiet-Line MkIIIs definitely made things sound better, too.

I realize that products from Shakti (and probably some of the other stuff that I bought) are like the red state/blue state stuff of audio forums, but I don't give a sh*t. They helped my low-fi system a lot, and that's all that I care about. Things will change for the better once I win the Lotto.

 

 

Two big upgrades for me this year. Added a Parasound JC5 in February and finally feel like I have the headroom and power my Revel F208s had been lacking. Also upgraded from a Bluesound Node 2i to a Aurender N100h in May and was pleasantly suprised by how much of an improvement it made on my streaming rig.

Upgraded to Triangle Art M-100 Mono blocks , Triangle Art L200 Preamp, and Triangle Art P-200 phonostage .

Enjoy reading what others have done. 

1.  VTA Passive preamp with TungSol 12AU7 buffer tubes.  Really nice sound.  Tubes and horns are the way to go??

2.  Springs under the subs and speakers.  This was jawdropping.  Cost $100 for all. 

Reasonably priced tweeks really gave me the bug!!  More plans for 22.

 

Tone Poets, Blue Note Classic Series and Acoustic Sounds Series LP reissues.

Denafrips Pontus II DAC but I might be cheating if it was Dec'20.

Cheers,

Spencer

Replaced my Audio Research SP6B, in continuous use for 40 years, with a used Cary SLP05 with ultimate upgrade. Had no idea the improvement would be this great!

@havocman 

I did try Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper speaker cables. Unfortunately they didn’t work out for me in my current system.

Vpi tt prime scout upscale audio version package, Hana SL cartridge, acrylic dust covers for my SMe10 and Vpi I bought them from Gary , Schiit Freya plus preamp, tubes tennis ball 6sn7, and uk version, Tellurium phono Cables Black, Carda pc clear reflection, and new phone cable for my SME10, Lots of FIM cd label, and SACDs and vynils.

Used Audio Research SP-6B pre-amp to replace the Luxman CL-32.

As usual, Audio Research is the best when talking pre-amps.

Also, reversed the 12/2 zip speaker wire so what was at the amp is now at the speaker.  HUGE DIFFERENCE!

Cheers!

I felt I changed league this year.

Amp: from Arcam Alpha 5 to McIntosh C712 + MC7100

Speakers: from B&W V203 to Focal Sopra no.1

The speaker upgrade brought spectacular improvement, several order of magnitude more that the amp upgrade that remain extremely significant. 

 

 

 

Shunyata Everest 8000 powered by the Sigma v2 XC and a loom of Alpha v2 NR's for everything else...then jaw hit floor!!!

Made some significant upgrades in 21 after researching for over 1 year. 

1) best upgrade was replacing Martin Logan Esl 15a with Wilson Alexia speakers. 
2) 2nd best upgrade was replacing McIntosh Mc1.2kwh monoblocks with Audio Research Reference 160S Stereo amplifier and Reference 6 SE Pre amp. 
3) Replaced mostly Audioquest cables with Transparent Generation 6 Reference speaker cables, power cords, XLR interconnects, and outlet filters. (May have been the best money spent)

4) replaced Martin Logan Force 210 subs with 2 Rel S812 subs. 
5) replaced Lumin D2 streamer/dac with Lumin T2

6) added Pro-ject6 Perspex6 for my first foray into vinyl in over 30 years. 
Each upgrade added a significant improvement to my listening experience. 

Pair of copper infused socks so there are no more static shocks when touching my turntable.

I'm going to cheat a little bit and go back two years since that particular upgrade was my best ever. In 2020 I bought Harbeth 40.2 speakers and realized, for me, focusing on the transducers is the most important part of the audio link. I am no longer fussing with amps, preamps, sources etc. since these speakers sound wonderful on any combination of audio components in my collection.

My biggest upgrade in the last year was to my office system. I had a blue sound player feeding a cheap Emotiva BasX preamp with internal DAC which feeds an NAD 275BEE amplifier connected to B&W 686S2 speakers. I replaced the Emotive preamp with a Topping D30pro. In both configurations I was not using the Bludsound DAC, but rather the Emotive DAC and now the Topping DAC. I realized a very noticeable sound improvement. If I remember the Emotiva preamp was about $300 two or three years ago. The Topping D30pro was $400 this year.  

On a side note (FWIW), I can hear no difference between the Topping DAC or the much more expensive, older Bryston BDA-2 when swapped back-and-forth on my main system.

Magnarisers with cyro jumpers for my Maggie 3.7 speakers.  Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was. Now my analog system outperforms anything digital.  Cannot figure that out, but it is so.

New to me:

Speakers: Mirage M760 --> Focal Kanta No2

Integrated amp: Denon AVR 3312CI --> McIntosh MA5200

Turntable: Rega RP1 with Ortofon 2M red --> Rega RP8 with Ortofon Cadenza blue and a Hegel V10 phonostage

CD player: Denon 2500BTC --> McIntosh MCD-7008

Streamer: old laptop --> NAD-C658 with MDC HDM-2

Bluray: Denon 2500BTC --> Panasonic DP-UB90001K

Just bought a new to me tube amp. Rogue M180 monoblocks

2021 was a great year. 2022 will be spent building around the Rogue monoblocks.

I upgraded my Yiggy from G1 to MiL. I love it! 

I had been out of my hobby for 20 years!  I finally got the bug and got back into it this year.  Some new, some used, but all new to me and I am having the time of my life listening to music again.

Audio Research SP15 line stage, Audio Research VT100 MKIII tube amp, Tannoy XTF8 speakers, Project DS2 Tube Box phono pre, Clearaudio Concept with Satisfy arm, Hana SL Cartridge and a pair of REL T/7x subs.  All balanced interconnects, Speaker cables bi-wire and power cords Transparent Audio Super.  

Buying lots of vinyl and enjoying every minute of it!

I upgraded my Audio Research Ref 3 LE to a Ref 6.  Nice improvement in soundstage and realism.  Then traded my Boulder 866 and got a Audio Research  Ref 160S.  Significant improvements across the board.  Then my new Wilson Audio Sabrina X arrived and I parted ways with my Wilson Sophia 3.  Holy cow what a difference the Sabrina X made.  So much more musical and relaxed sounding and I'd no clue you could get so much bass from such a small speaker :) I had a great system before, but this has all taken it up a couple notches.  Weak point now is the DCS Bartok, which I'll look to upgrade sometime next year.   

I am currently building a professionally designed dedicated room in the basement which will be home to (ordered but not here yet) Rockport Avior ii, a Boulder 866 int. And Nordost PC, IC and SC. I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s upgrades! 
 

Fun thread! 

(1) Klipsch Forte IV

(2) Luxman D-06u

(3) REL S/510

Quicksilver Mono 120s to join my QS pre and Spendor 1/2Es...finest and most enjoyable system I've ever had. They ain't going anywhere!

Quiet year... Good albums and the pro-ject rs2 cd transport

I was very fortunate to be able to upgrade from my original Holo Audio DAC to the May. I also took some time to work through the Master Set speaker placement process. I am very impressed with the results.

R2R DAC Rockna Wavedream XLR

Shunyata Cobra ztron power cable for the Triton to Audio Envy Mega 10th gen. power cable

Townshend Audio Seismic Podiums (for 2020 it was Townshend Allegri Reference), my two greatest upgrades !!! (see my system pics).

Request Audio Beast Server. It replaced an MSB Signature V DAC with Signature Transport. 

The difference is unbelieveble

What a great thread!

1. Cube Audio Nenuphars 10’’ monitors + 12’’ sub. Widebanders at their best. 

2. SoundKaos Vox3A speakers, the best compact speaker I know of  

3. Enleum Amp23R amplifier … a worthy successor to the Bakooon Amp12R, in my book the best 20W SS around 

4. Icon 4SE passive pre-amplifier… the king the rules them all, have configured mine wirh >40hz / <40hz filters for enhanced sub integration

5. Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC… take the best DAC your know and add an analogue character.  My turntable has taken dust since its arrival. 

6. Grimm MU1 streamer, the best companion to the Tambaqui I have found

7. Puritan PCM156 ac/dc purifier, lowers noise, increases dynamics whilst not coloring the signal in any way