Would an amp or preamp have a larger SQ increase?

Thanks for the comments. Do you have any experience with the Musical Fidelity preamps vs. the Adcom 750?

I do like the way the GFA-545 sounds, but if I could get "more" (bass, seperation, impact?) I think I'd be happier? I don't really have any benchmark to judge what I have against, just what I read. (not the best scenario, I know)

I like the dual mono layout of the MF, and the build quality looks great. I tend to keep things for a long time if I like them, so something that is rock solid is a plus to me.

Thanks,

Mike

Well, I'm not much of an Adcom fan - you can do better for the money.

Do you listen to cd exclusively. Turntable? Radio? What cd player do you have now?

Is your $700 budget for both an amp and a preamp or for each piece?

Right now my music source is mostly CD-quality digital streams from our FIOS service. I know, not the ultimate, but it sounds pretty good to my ears. Also, I plan on either getting a Squeezebox, or letting my Panasonic TV stream 192kbps Pandora to my system. Would also like to be able to stream lossless files from my PC.

At some point we'll be getting a Blu Ray player, and I was planning on getting an Oppo, so that would be my CD source as well.

$700 budget would be for each component, but I'd probably have to wait a while (6 months?) between purchases (wife acceptance factor, not cash-strapped factor, lol). I could probably stretch a bit more for a really good component if I could be convinced that I'd actually be able to tell a decent increase in SQ. (when taking into account my other equipment, my non-treated room (is 13.5x33x7 though), and me not being a trained listener)

I suppose a frame of reference would be when I went from the Carver receiver powering my B&W 601's to using the Carver as a preamp and using the Adcom 545 as a power amp. There was a large increase in the lower end and bass response, not trivial in the least, even my wife could easily tell the difference.

Then, when I moved up to the Ascend Sierra-1's, there was another definitely noticeable increase in SQ. More bass, much tighter and better defined also. More extension and not boomy anymore. More "air" and seperation between instruments and sounds in music as well. Lyrics, etc become more clear.

I'd really like to get another increase in SQ on par with that I got from those 2 changes, if I can.

Mike

In general I find preamps make a bigger absolute difference in overall sound in my system than amps. But one area where I find amps make relatively more of a difference is with regard to bass, which seems to be high on your list of priorities. The quickest, tightest bass I've had in my system came courtesy of Bryston amps, and if you're looking for air and separation their preamps are way, way up there too. I would think going with something like a BP-6 would be a huge improvement (i.e. wider/deeper 3D soundstage, increased clarity/detail and sense of space, etc.) over your Carver's preamp section, but you might have to stretch your budget a bit. Of course the 20-yr. warranty is also nice to have if you're a buy-and-hold type guy.

You also seem like a good candidate for adding a quality subwoofer at some point. If you're looking for something that would provide a big absolute difference in what you're hearing across the board, there you go. Hope this helped, and best of luck.

Thanks Soix. Funny, I actually spent quite a bit of time today reading up on Bryston amps. I'd probably have to settle for an older 3B, or even a 1st gen 4B. Do you have an opinion on what would be a better choice, a a slightly newer 3B version, or an older 4B (assuming about the same price)?

I'll do some reading on the Brystom preamps.

Yes, I will add a sub at a later date. I just figured that would be sort of a 1-dimensional improvement (bass), whereas the amp and/or preamp would give me SQ gains in more areas.

Mike