What upgrade?


I wonder which upgrade would be my best bang for the buck. My current system cosists of

BAT vk-200, Rogue Magnum 99 with phono, Arcam FMJ CD23, Tyler Linbrook Linbrook signature (1 peace), and Clear audio Emotion with AT150mlx.
Speaker cable is Clear Day silver shotgun.
Interconnect varies -- Clear Day Eichmann Copper IC, Signal cable silver, straight wire Encore II
Power cable -- from LAT, Clear Day, Black Mountain peak power

My budget is $1700. My current priority is in the following order (for all used)
1. vk-3ix or vk30 with phono
2. vk-d5se
3. Tyler D2 (only after selling LSS at around $2000)

I guess my budget is a bit tight but still quite close. I am quite satisfied with LPs but not with CD sound. I wonder which upgrade would improve most on CD sound. Well, I cannot do much on room acoustics, so it is not in my choice.
ihcho

Showing 3 responses by pdreher

I think your amp is the weakest link in your system. Changing out the Rogue pre for the BAT pre's listed is a lateral move at best... maybe a step back. Your cdp and speakers have good reputations, so additional improvements would come at a high cost.

Suggest you sell your amp and buy a Plinius SA-102, Audio Research 100.2, or Levinson 23.5... or you can try spending less with some tweaks, such as trying some good NOS tubes ($400) for your Rogue preamp (try Brendan @ Tubeworld).
I once owned the BAT VK-200 paired with the VK-30. It did not a fulfilling combo for me. YMMV.
The greatest thrill (and sometimes disappointment) in this hobby is trying new things & combinations. Enjoy the journey!