Upgrade my Theta or move on?

I was in pretty much exactly the same boat--I had a Casa I with basic DACs looking at about $8K for an upgrade. In my case, I ended up realizing that most of what I listened to was 2 channel anyway--I had no center (Casa set to phantom center) and rarely turned on the VT60 powering my rear speakers. At the same time, the idea of decluttering my living room (rear speakers) appealed... so...

I ended up picking up a dCS Purcell and Delius... Thought I could run 'em w/o a preamp, but ended up losing some slam, so I dropped in a pre from another setup. Although I'm still working out some kinks, I'm *much* happier...

I did upgrade.Sent my unit to theta on 11/11.I DID EXTREMES in the fronts LRC/sub and moved my standards to the rears.Just got the unit back on 1/4/05 and all i can say is WOW!Sounds like i have a new system!Now looking for cables since i now need balanced for fronts.Any ideas?What fun using all these settings!-Kevin

Just to clarify some issues about amp power. While the warnings about damaging your speakers due to excessive power have merit, it is very unlikely.

In almost all cases (certainly most of the cases that I've seen) damage to the voice coil of a cone driven speaker is caused by insufficient power. Though it seems oxymoronic, it happens all the time.

When your amp runs out of power, it will clip the signal. This turns the nice sine wave into a nasty square wave (OK, an approximation of a square wave). Moreover, the square wave has a lot of high frequency harmonics in it. Two things happen.

One, the voice coil of your cone speake is extended for the length of time it is trying to reproduce the signal. This causes the voice coil to heat up. It's the moving back and forth of the voice coil that helps cool it. By leaving it extended for long periods (relative to normal operation) the heat can't dissipate and the voice coil is in danger or burning out.

Secondly, the high frequency harmonics stress the voice coil while its already in this vunerable position. That couple with the first issue cause real problems.

The clipping characteristics of amps vary. Tube amps do not have that problem. They clip smoothly. Single ended amps also have much nicer clipping characteristics though there are very few high power single ended transitor amps on the market.

So, enjoy your powerful amps and do not worry about speaker damage. Your ears will tell you long before your speakers do that you're playing your music too loud.

Interesting, your system has some similarities to mine. I had a Rotel RCD971 CD player, Theta DaVid II DVD transport, Theta Casablanca II with "superior" front channel DACs, Sunfire AMP and Mirage speakers. I'm currently upgrading to Vandersteen speakers (3A Sigs, Vcc-1, VSM-1) from the Mirage's. This should add a huge improvement in imaging, detail and clarity. I'm planning to improve my music listening further by adding a good two channel pre-amp and better dedicated CD player. Movie soundtracks are satisfactory already. Based upon what I've learned from the "Audio Perfectionist" going this way will offer significantly better quality for the money than upgrading the Casablanca processor. I'm sure I will come back around to that but not until after upgrading to a dreadnaught amp and maybe better speaker cables.

Having had the CB and then upgraded to a CBll with extreme DACS, along with the DaViD, the Theta Data lll, 4 Vandy 3A sigs, the VCC 5 and two VSM on the sides, and two 2wq's I feel very confident in saying don't bother to upgrade your CB to improve your music listening.
Keep it as your HT processor, it is terrific for that. Then take your $4000 and buy the best 2 channel pre amp that you can find with a AV pass through. For that amount of money you can buy used or new and get a pre amp that will out perform the CB by leaps and bounds. You also need a CD player or a TT, the DVD player is great for movies but, for music, get a CD player or TT.