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Simaudio I5 to separates?

I've been considering whether moving from my I5 to separates would be a worthwhile move. While I quite enjoy the sound from the I5, my only complaint would be a slight bloat in the upper bass/lower midrange area. Other than that, I really like its presentation.

That being said, I was quite taken aback upon hearing an all-Ayre system a year ago at the Montreal audio show - it was a full-5 system (ie, KX-5e, VX-5e and CX-5e). It had everything that I like about a high-end system - solid, authoritative bottom end, "you are there" liquid midrange and sparkling highs. The speakers were Sonus Faber Cremonas.

So...would my system take a significant step in that direction by moving to Ayre separates in place of my I5? Or would Sim's separates offer this same type of sound? Or am I going off on a wild goose chase, where I will spend a lot of $$ and not hear a lot of difference without also changing speakers?

Surely the I5 is popular, so if you had one and moved to separates - where did you go and what were the results?

FYI - my speakers are Totem Hawks, cdp is Ayre CX-7e, turntable is a Gyro SE with Graham 2.2 tonearm and Benz L2 cartridge with Sim LP5.3 phono stage.
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lamcam
76 posts
 
I had the I-5 and switched to Pathos Classic hybrid int amp. I compared them side by side and preferred the Pathos for bigger soundstage, better high and mid, but I preferred the Sim for the low end.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
If you don't now have the amp on a good isolation platform I would do that before anything else. I am using a Star Sound Rack and it made a tremendous difference. I saw some of their Sistrum platforms on Audiogon very reasonably priced recently. I would try one of these or a comparable product before I changed anything. You will not be out anything as you can use it under whatever you end up with.
rcziech
47 posts
 
IMO your bass bloat is probably from your speakers, the speaker placement, or room anomalies --- not the I5.

try moving speakers around before spending lots of $$.

sounds like you may want a gear change for sweeter mids and highs tho.
countingbackwards OP
138 posts
 
So an update after playing around a bit with power chords and speaker placement:

First off, my feeling that the problem was related to amplification has to do with the fact that when there's additional mid-bass energy, it can be due to a lack of power in the amps decreasing the response in the lower bass. I still believe that may be happening, but was not at the "base" of my problem (so to speak).

The problem was simple...the Shunyata Venom power cable that I was using on the phono stage was somehow causing a mid-bass bloat. I found this out when swapping the Audience powerchord into the phono stage and putting the Shunyata back on the CDP. When I did that, the CDP seemed to have a bit of a bloat but vinyl did not. Seeing as I've been mostly listening to vinyl these days, I had not noticed that the problem was much more evident on the vinyl side.

So...I guess what I have found is that while the Venom is a decent inexpensive power chord, there is a reason that I paid the extra $$$ for the Audience. Also, the phono stage seems to be a bit more picky about power chords than the CDP, which might be down to the CDP having a better power supply.

My next step, I guess, will be to replace the Venom with another Audience chord, before considering mega $$$ equipment upgrades.

(Oh, and it wasn't speaker placement - they wound up right back on their little "x" marked out on the floor)
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