Another upgrade question
Ok, didn't know a better board to put this on so here goes.
So now that i have the beginnings of an audio system,
and the upgrade bug seems to linger (do you guys ever get satisfied???), and i keep looking at the audiogon for sale ads, i am not sure where to go next with additions/upgrades.
Although i will eventually go full HT, at the moment since i am working on my dissertation, i never have time/desire to watch tv other than an occasional movie which i watch on my laptop, though i do try to make time to listen to music, though often read journals at the same time. So aside from video, what should i upgrade to next?
my system at the moment:
H/K AVR 520 receiver
Denon 370 CDP
Some yet to be finalized pair of speakers (AE Aegis 3s or Dahlquist Qx6)
Kimber 8PR speaker cable
RS Gold series audio cable
My room is about 10 x 17, with a bay window on one of the short legs, and a hallway on the corner of the other. Right now i have the system setup along the middle portion of a long wall.
I am pretty satisfied with the HK receiver and plan on keeping it for some time to come. Since the whole multi-channel thing has not played itself out, i am hesitant to spend any money on this route (sources or additional speakers) until there is a "clear" winner or direction where things will be headed, at least for some point in time.
So, upgrades that I have thought about to save up for:
1) AC line conditioner (Monster 2000, Adcom..., Rotel prod)
2) Amplifier - either stereo or multichannel
So several questions:
1) which of the above 2 is more urgent/necessary? will line conditioning help that much (i am in a 40 yr old condo building)?
2) I can either buy a used amp or build one from a kit, like from bottlehead.com or something like that, though it is a tube amp. are there any recommended SS amp kits out there?
3) is there ANYTHING in a HT setup as far as electronic equip/something carrying electricity is concerned which everyone agrees on does not add/subtract to the sound in any way? i ask this because i think i will go NUTS having to audition every single itsy bitsy piece of wire that i want to buy. And, i hate not being able to buy something at a great price, just because i can't hear it beforehand. Do the people that live in towns of pop.400 not have any audioenthusiasts??
Or, if there is anything else that i should be looking for in upgrades, please let me know. Thanks.