Does an upgrade make sense?


I may be coming down with the upgrade bug, and I’m open to suggestions. I’m quite happy with what I have—excellent imaging, musicality, dynamics. Maybe I could use a little more depth (left right is fine and speakers truly disappear), and maybe a touch more dynamics.

Almost everything I listen to is Qobuz streaming or hi res and flac files from a NAS (hard drive). My system:

Cambridge 851 Streamer/DAC

Bel Canto Pre5

Bel Canto Ref 500 monoblocks

Dali Mentor 6 floorstanders

Everything sits on maple plinths, Gaia iiis, or pucks.

Cabling is mid range Morrows. I previously had Kimber KS1116s but sold them as the Morrows sounded just as good, on the current set up.

What do I need to get more of everything? Speakers? DAC, Streamer? Amp?

tomaswv

Yep, some RELs will make a big difference in both the bottom end and size of sound stage.  

+1 to Puritan 156 which made signifact improvement on my system at reasonable cost.

 

The next step is to try nice subwoofers like Rel.

 

i enjoy pair of Rel 31s but it is not cheap.

 

Thomas

Thanks all. First thing I’m going to do is look into a Puritan 156. And tweaking my room set up. I have a solid, dead center image and excellent side to side sound staging as is — can I get more depth? I need to hear my system without the tv and components between the speakers. Lots of work lies ahead. Thanks again for all the advice. 

@tomaswv

I agree with moving on to separates from your Cambridge 851.

Have 700 hours on my Puritan 156 with Puritan Ultimate power cable. A purchase that is well worth the cost.

Curious what you have under your electronics? I have Black Ravioli Pads and Big Pads, and Stack Audio Auva EQ.

Streaming by wifi or ethernet cable? Power cables?

@mahgister   It would be interesting to see what you could do fine-tuning this listening (or any listening) room.  Ever consider hiring out your services?