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$3000: upgrade Tyler Linbrooks or amplification?

HI,

I am going through my 2-3 year upgrade itch, and was looking at ways to spend $2000 to $3000 into my system. My question is this: should I be looking at a $3000 speaker upgrade, or should I be spending that money on amplfication? Where do most of the benefits come from? Honestly, in the several years I have been doing audio, the biggest benefits have always come from speaker upgrades, assuming the associated electronics weren't crap (and mine aren't).

Currently I am running the Tyler Acoustics Linbrook signature speaker, a McCormack DNA-125 revision Gold amp, and a borrowed Dehavilland Superverve (C-J PV5 was in my system). I was planning on throwing a bunch of money at the preamp, but the Superverve sounds nice for the price, so am likely set there for a minimal upgrade cost. That leaves $2500 in my budget. For that, I could likely:

1) get a nicer set of speakers. That gets me close to the new Tyler D1's, or another very nice speaker. There is a dealer nearby selling the Devore Gibbon Nines that I could afford (hoping to get them home for a test). The Tylers are very seductive, so I would obviously be interested in his new D1 as well, or anything else I could get for $6000-7000 (Merlin maybe)?

2) upgrade amplification (take my amp to Platinum status for another $700), get something even nicer than the Superverve preamp.

3) Keep the money, in case the economy really goes down the toilet. System sounds great as-is (but it can always get better, right)?

I am also budgeting another $300 for room treatments. I can't go too crazy there, as the listening room is also the living room, and my wife hates the look.
dawgcatching

Showing 2 responses by dawgcatching

dawgcatching OP
139 posts
 
Tyler was pretty modest when he described the improvements of the D1 to me, but that is probably a good thing: he is a very modest person in general, and his product sound very, very good, so I am excited to hear how the D1's sound. So many people in this industry hype their product as "the best ever" and then the product fails to meet expectations.

He did seem very excited about the quality of the new product, but definitely thought the D1 was the upgrade to the LSS for a bigger room, not the D2.
dawgcatching OP
139 posts
 
That is kind of what I came to as well, after originally posting here with the question, and listening to other amps/preamps in my system. I had some stuff (amp/preamp combos) that retailed for $15,000 (not the highest end, but pretty darn good) and the system improved, sure. More detail in the background, strings and piano sounded more realistic, bass a little tighter. It was nice. But, at 2x the retail price of my old stuff, it should be. And, we aren't talking a huge difference: if I didn't have the cash to double my investment in amplification (I don't) then I won't be sorry about listening to what I have. I could spend a couple thousand and get the amplification marginally better, but if the speakers aren't able to do much more with the signal, what is it worth?

At this point, I am leaning toward a speaker upgrade. With regards to why I am looking at the D1's without hearing them: I would have a money-back option if they didn't work. I love my Linbrooks as well, so anything that has a similar sound (musical, detailed, quite realistic) but is improving on it would be a + in my book. These are just easy to listen to, no matter the amplification, and (not being trained in music, but just enjoying it at a consumer) they sounds pretty close to the "you are there" experience, at least as much as can be expected by trying to duplicate a full orchestra in a 400 square foot living room!
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