what to upgrade


whats my weekest link,what should i upgrade next?currently i have;acurus a150,p.s audio 4.5,gas thalia,amc cd 8b,vandersteen model 1's.i mostly use the thalia,it's not the best but i prefer it over my p.s audio,too dead.also im looking for a thaedra if anyone has one,fs,dave...
ampzilla747
I agree with the CD Player being your weakest link. If this is the AMC with the Burr Brown 24/96 DAC, you may want to see if Stan Warren can do the same Mod he does on the Pioneer DVD Players with the same DAC. I'll bet he can. The full Mod is $250 plus return shipping. Well worth the money. Stan's number is 541-344-3696
You have a good system, everything is matched and in about the same league. Nice stuff too. With due respect to everyone else, I would start at the most important link, the speakers. Sell the Vandersteen 1's and get some 2 Ce's at least ($750 used), or else go with some B&W or Magnepan. Your present electronics can drive these and you will get great sound. Next, with due respect to the legendary Ampzilla, I would go with a newer amplifier, perhaps a BAT VK-200 (many for sale here) or an Aragon or such, or perhaps an old Counterpoint with or without mods by altavistaaudio.com? Check it out and get back to us as to what happens.
well my amp is actually a acurus a150,pretty new,im using a 1978 thalia 2 as my pre amp.i wish i had an ampzilla,then id just have that upgraded/rebuilt by james,thanks.dave...
Dont do the speakers first.Buy the best source you can afford.Spend at least 75%+ of what you would on a speaker,
The speaker cant make a bad signle sound good.Garbage in garbage out.
While i do see room for improvement like any other system in existence, you don't mention any of the cables that you're using, size and acoustics of the room, type of music that you listen to or exactly what is wrong / what you're looking to improve. Throwing out a question as you did will result in quite a few "suggestions", all open to personal tastes and interpretation.

Instead of swapping components out one by one and playing the never ended "upgrade" game, try maxing out the components that you have. Doing this will keep more money in your pocket AND improve any equipment that you currently have or purchase in the future.

As such, i'm talking about taking the time to do the basics. Purchase a decent rack. There are quite a few threads and opinions as to what is decent, but i'll leave that up to you to do your homework. After all, "shopping & learning" is half the fun : ) Get the components set up properly on the rack in terms of various isolation, damping, absorption, etc... Carefully lay out your interconnects and power cords and speaker cables. Experiment with speaker placement, some simple room acoustic treatments, etc...

All of this will add up VERY quickly in terms of benefits to EVERY aspect of the system. The best part about doing "simple" things like this is that most of them can be done by yourself and for pennies on the dollar. Not only do you save TONS of money, but you learn quite a bit along the way.

I think that most people seek out performance by replacing / upgrading even though they never took the time to do the basics or find out what the gear that they already have is capable of. Once you've done everything that you can with the existing components in terms of "reasonable" and "sensible" expenditures in time and money, THEN evaluate the system. This will give you a better idea of what you think is lacking, what its' strong points are and where you need to go in terms of sonics. Doing the basics FIRST is kind of like studying a road map before taking a trip. Sure, you might still get sidetracked along the way, but at least you'll have a good idea of where you're at and what you need to do to get back on course. Sean
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