When and what was your last significant equipment upgrade?

Today - Finally received my VPI 9" 3D tonearm for my Scout. With just a few hours on the clock, the sound is vastly improved over either the 9T or the 9" Signature tonearms and I can use my Lyra Kleos once again as it did not mate well with either of the above mentioned tonearms.

Ah maple nice I took another look and I see what you mean about Martin Logans. They look great much more elegant fit and finish than the pair I listened to. And heard that same system at Cap Audiofest loved it and also at Deja Vu of course. Running an amp and preamp from Deja Vu that were built by their previous designer Pavel. Great sounding gear and bullet proof.

Jond, my cabinets are natural maple with walnut slats on front.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course, but I think they look really nice.  Their appearance reminds me of my old Martin Logan CLS.  They also sound really nice! 

I am sure you will enjoy your new Audio Notes.  I heard the AN-J LX in an all-Audio Note system at the Capital Audio Fest and liked it a lot.

salectric I actually looked at your system page after I posted that and they are indeed different yours are a much lighter shade of wood, cherry perhaps. The speakers I saw were dark brown maybe even black and with different grills. I am sure your speakers sound amazing I've yet to hear one of Vu's creations that doesn't. Sadly my room is far to small for horn speakers but looking forward to my AN/Jlx's arriving very much! Cheers and happy listening!

Jond.  Well, that wasn't my speaker you heard since mine were not finished until after your visit.  However, mine are probably pretty similar to what you heard at Vu's store.  They use a YL Acoustic (Yoshimura Labs) horn and compression driver from Japan, and Vu probably had a set of those in the store when you visited.  Mine look very similar to the big Western Electric open baffle speakers that were in the same room.  Pictures of mine are on my AudioGon system page. 

Still haven't touched a thing. 

Replaced Radio Shack Pro 35 Titanium headphones for portable Walkman cassette player with Grado SR 80 headphones.

Replaced my Valhalla for a Lingo 3.

@salectric very cool! I listed to a pair of newly completed open baffle custom speakers at Deja Vu about a month ago might they have been yours? If so amazing speakers and if not well any speakers Vu builds are amazing! Enjoy!

New speakers from Deja Vu Audio delivered two weeks ago.  They are fairly large open baffle speakers with vintage drivers: Jensen 15" woofer, YL Acoustic compression driver and horn, and Electro-Voice horn tweeter.  

@hifiman5 well it was 8-12 so the clock is ticking down and they come all the way from the UK so it does take time. I have speakers in the meantime so I am getting by!

@jond  "patience is a virtue"  7-10 weeks?  You sir, must be virtuous indeed!

Just ordered new speakers for the first time in 10 years! A pair of Audio Note AN/Jlx's in Olive wood veneer! Got them through Deja Vu Audio they should be here in another 7-10 weeks!

Mains is on a shilling rampage. At least ten current threads are being dominated by this nonsense. Is no one safe?

My previous best upgrade was to the deHavilland UltraVerve tube preamplifier. At the time I was a dealer for Art Audio, Joule Electra, Atmosphere and had pre amps from all the above. In the hopes of finding a less expensive preamp I ordered an UltraVerve from Kara Chaffee. Well I got more then I expected. That little $2500 pre out performed all the above. What an eye opener that was. 

I think that was in 2006. 

Forgot to say my Melco is running into my Bricasti. Bricasti straight to Bricasti M 28's. Devine...sublime

Grogan unfortunately you are probably right about that. Divorce only leaves a person room for inexpensive upgrades and a bottle of booze.

Purist Audio Neptune RCAs. It's almost like inserting a good tube pre-amp in the chain. I have all solid state electronics, but not cold sounding.

@soundsrealaudio, I think if Spencer was divorced, he’d be listening to this:

http://www.toysrus.com/buy/boombox-cd-players/monster-high-cd-boom-box-56049-11904631

sbank 
Nice system...how long have you been divorced?  

Almost forgot, plug into the high current outlets if possible. 

@hifiman5  The P10 has a more relaxed feel, it's more detailed but nuanced not analytical.  Decays are better.  It feels as if I'm in a bigger hall, the ambiance is improved.  

@gshepardbuster  Can you elaborate on the differences between the P5 and P10?  I am on my second PS unit.  I went from a P500 to a Premier.  

replaced MIT MI-330 pre-to-amp interconnect and MH 750 Tube Terminators speaker cables ( both of which I gave to Goodwill - the costs to reterminate the bad connectors plus time, effort and cost to list and sell, was close to their value as old used cables; not worth the time and trouble) with Grover Huffman cables.  A tremendous upgrade in clarity.

Sold my PS Audio P5 Power Plant earlier this year only to yearn for another.  Recently replaced it with a P10.  Suprisingly it's a solid upgrade even on light duty sources only. 

I recently purchased 2 Nitro power cords from Mad Scientist cable. Bob P. is the mastermind behind the products. The Nitro is his reference cord. I've used many a power cord, some quite costly. These are the best I've heard, absolutely jaw dropping.  Mad Scientist offers a 30 day trial with full refund minus shipping. Starting price for 1.2 meters is $399.

Zavato I am with you on the Bricasti. My upgrade was the 2K Melco N 1 server, player. Stores 2 terabytes. I purchased a Buffalo CD Ripper that is made by the same company but sells for about $160 dollars. Much easier then burning to a laptop. Now while I listen to music I can burn CD's at about one every 4 minutes. Adds a lot of joy to my listening experience. 

Western Electric 16 GA speaker wire.  :)

July 2016 - Accuphase E600 bought as demo from authorized dealer with full warranty. I only mention that because some people do buy Japanese versions on eBay with step down transformers which is something I would never do.

Bought one 1 meter AQ Colorado RCA interconnect and two .5 meter ones on the Music Direct half price sale.  This is the third day of around the clock break-in, much of it with Purist Audio Designs System Enhancer Disc and I have never had a clearer window to the music.  It makes other cables sound "confused"  Ridiculously great value at such close-out prices.

Gallo Reference 3.1 loudspeakers just last month.

New Classic Audio T3.3 speakers with field coil option and Atmasphere Novacron monoblocks. WOW is all I can say. They are still breaking in. 

Purchased an Ayre K-1xe preamp yesterday to replace the Modwright LS-100 that I can't seem to find quiet tubes for.  Hopefully finished upgrading now. 

Townshend Audio speaker bars. I never could have thought the fantastic results on my plannar system. These things are incredible and at very reasonnable price.

Sound Lab A3 electrostatic loudspeakers. 
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/133

Cheers,
Spencer

A Balanced Power Technologies 2.5 Signature Edition. This unit really rounds out my system. Now if I could just build that dedicated room....

I am 3 weeks into listening/breaking in my new Vandersteen Treo CTs.  I traded in my Vandy model 3s which I owned for 22 years.  The musical truth the Treos reveal was beyond my imagining.  Richard Vandersteen does it again!

Hi davidpritchard,
Thanks for the kind words. You have a really wonderful set-up. I installed the Synergistic Black fuse plus I already had the complete Oyaide R-1 and WPZ wall plate. Also added Akiko in to outlet. Everything is working in harmony, truly black background, great stage, tone. I'm amazingly happy now. Buying records like there is no tomorrow, as few CDs as well. Best, Rob

DeVore 0/96 Orangutan speakers to pair with Coincident Dynamo SE Mark II. Only $1,500 for amp with built-in volume control. Wow!!! Great sound with mostly NOS tubes, NOS Western Electric WE16ga speaker wires, Belden 8402 interconnect, all Western Electric WE10ga power cords, except DAC, WE14ga. Saved big-time for super quality Single Ended sound. Best, Rob

In May, I sold my Vandersteen 2Cis and replaced them with Treo CTs. Very happy!

The newest addition for me is different speaker cables.   I've spent years with oh so many brands....high priced, low priced, and everything in between.... the ones I have now just work.  Ease, extension, clarity, etc.  Don't give up your search until perfection is found.

Building and listening to my set of 4 Walsh speakers.  Next upgrade is the new and improved version of the same, in the same quantity.
Unlike the original Ohm's, they're a '2 way' with a smaller unit above the lower and larger driver.  The larger driver is slightly larger than the unit one sees applied in the German Physiks offerings, which is what I'm patterning them after.  And I can bi-amp them with a digital xover....
They're not perfect, but I listen to them far more than I do to my more 'normal' speaker array.  I've not noticed any 'listener fatigue either, which I can only experience elsewhere with my AMT's.

Adcom GFP 715 to Rogue Metis Magnum and Rega Elys 2 to Exact 2 for my RP3

Emotiva XPA-1 GEN 2 Monoblocks
Modwright LS36.5 DM Tube Preamplifier
EAT Forte Turntable w/ Moerch Tonearm & ZYX Universe Premium Edition cartridge.

Vandersteen 4A to Wilson Maxx 2s.

mcintosh mc-602