Which Would You Choose?


My System

NAD M12 Preamp with HDMI/BluOs modules

Parasound Halo JC5 Amp

Arcam DV79 DVD/CD

Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers

Sunfire HRS 10 subs X 2

Audioquest NRG Z2 power cords

Silnote Morpheus Reference Series II XLR

Audioquest Pearl 48 HDMI cables

Audioquest Greyhound sub cables

Aircom S8 cooling unit for amp

Monster Power HTS 3600 MKII

Mogami 2921 speaker wire/bi wired

 

You all know the desire to improve your sound. Thinking of switching amps again.

Rotel Michi S5

or

Music Fidelity M8s-500s

 

greywolf

Naturally, upgrades in components should yield improvements in sound. This is a complex subject. I could go on forever. Before you go that route, I would suggest improvements in all of your cabling. There are currently several high-tech sources that have "finally" discovered the sonic benefits of using 7n's OCC solid core copper wire, with silver plating, as the main ingredient in all of the cables offered, Including highly shielded power cord construction. Personally, I use custom made cables utilizing this material and construction, however I have recently come across a manufactured source that I would buy in a heartbeat if I didn't already have what I have. I suggest contacting DECAWARE in E.PEORIA, IL. Talk to STEVE DECERT about all of his current OCC cable designs. This person is truly an audio design genius, so you can ask him anything. BE CAREFUL though !! "All of his component designs are incredibly addicting, including speakers. His company is one of those hidden gems in the HIGH END audio business.

You speakers are in an entirely different class to the rest of your equipment and you probably need to think of upgrading almost everything not just a power amp.  Actually IMHO your power amp is the last thing you need to replace.

@mazian

 

+1

 

I must admit, @mazian is correct. Your Olympica are capable of way better sound. But they need to be feed with electronics a couple levels up.

I used to own Olympica 3s for many years. I supplied them with a $18K DAC / CD player, Audio Research 5SE preamp, and Pass 350 amp. While a great combo, if I had switched to a ARC Ref 75, they would have sounded better.

 

Ideally a preamp like a used Audio Research 5ish, Amp like Audio Research Ref 75, or Pass 250 would kick your system up a level or two.

 

Rotel and MoFi is midfield stuff… your speakers are way better than that.

I would start by getting an audiophile preamp. Look to Audio Research, Presto, Conrad Johnson, or VAC. I would look to spend around $8K.

Given your speakers an appropriate allocation would be Streamer, DAC, preamp, amp each cost (carefullly chosen and synergistic) = ~$8K. This will get you the very best sound out of the Olympica.