Help/advice with next upgrade


Over the past year,I assembled my 1st audiophile system since prior to raising kids,developing my career,all those standard things!I am enjoying it quite a bit....it consists of :
.Vandersteen 2CE Signature Speakers(mki)
.Vandersteen 2WQ Crossover with X2 Crossovers
.McCormack DNA 0.5 Rev-A Amplifier
.Tom Tutay Modified Eastern Electric Minimax Tube Preamp w/NOS Tubes
.Schiidt Audio Bifrost Multibit DAC
.1990’s Rotel CD player(digital coax out to DAC)
.Rega P3 Turntable w/stock Elys Cartidge and Rega Fono MM Phono Preamp
.Interconnects by Blue Jean Audio(BJA)
.Speaker Cables-Home Made Biwire Runs using Belden 12 gage BJA Bulk Cable
.Power Cords by Cullen Audio
.Inexpensive 4-shelf AV vertical rack with MDF shelves

I have $ 2-3 K to spend on upgrades(cost of purchase minus return from selling existing gear ) .I listen to approximately 10% vinyl,75% steaming(eg Spotify via USB output from my iPad),and 15% CDs.
My musical tastes vary from rock & roll to jazz to classical.I am contemplating purchase of a Bluesound Vault 2,which would replace my CD player,allow me to purchase high-rez digital music online,and manage all my streaming.That would cost me $ 1K.My room is 17’x 17’(square) with a standard 8’ ceiling.wall-to-wall carpeting and few windows.I have little flexibility for rearranging the system.

The system is the best sound I’ve had for years.The subwoofer handles the lows quite well and the highs are clear,satisfying,and nonaggressive.Sonically what I’d like to improve is midrange clarity(more detail without being aggressive) and a sense of spatial dimension/imaging.

I’ve considered upgrading the 2CEsigs to 3Asigs but I am not sure if the DNA 0.5 has enough power to drive the 3aSigs.I have not compared theTutay/Minimax preamp to others,so I don’t know how to rank the other choices.I realize that much of my cable is pretty basic,and my speaker cables are not the same length(8’/20’ to avoid crossing a doorway.)The phono preamp and DAC are pretty basic too.So many choices for upgrades.Looking for recommendations towards my sonic goals,as well as whether it’s worthwhile to get the Blue Vault given my listening preferences,

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Mike S.
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mjschwartzman

Showing 7 responses by peter_s

 Another option are some basic room treatments. Bass traps in some of the corners. Absorption at first reflection points if your speakers near walls. 
By the way, did you mean to say that you have a vandersteen 2WQ SUBWOOFER???
Mike: I agree with auxinput that contacting GIK about room treatments, giving them a sketch of your room, could lead to cost effective improvements.  I agree about upgrading the cabling too, except:

1) In our own personal conversations, you've told me that when you switched from monoprice copper cable to the Blue Jeans Belden speaker cable, you noticed a significant improvement in sound.

2) The vandersteen 2wq subwoofer uses speaker cable, not interconnect cable.  I think BJC speaker cable should be fine for that, though I haven't experimented with better cables for subs.

A reclocker could help your USB feed from the iPad, but if you went to a Blue Sound Vault, I think you'd be feeding a DAC with optical, so you wouldn't need to worry about reclocking USB... I think. You could start with the Blue Sound and the Bifrost DAC, and then try another DAC to step up, choosing one that is easily resold if the difference isn't worthwhile.  The Blue Sound could be a gateway to high Rez digital, which can be purchased online and stored on the devices hard drive.
Personally, I’ve tried using the DSpeaker Antimode 803 with a system built around a pair of professionally rebuilt Quad57’s. The speakers were close to walls, and the room was small, and the system had plenty of base. The Antimode definitely cleaned up the bass, tightened it up, but it also reduced transparency to the main speakers That bothered me, and I did not keep it. For you, it will depend on the current quality of your bass, and the balance in value between tightening the bass and losing a tad bit of transparency. In a square room, it could do a better job then acoustic treatments.

You can try tidal for the first month for free. But you have to be on board with spending $20 a month for music if you like it.

As for electrical. That can be a cost-effective upgrade if there are clear and easy path from your circuit breakers to your room. If that’s the case, like if you have a basement and it’s easy to run new circuits, it can be pretty inexpensive to run a couple dedicated circuits for you audio system. Electricians are pretty good at fishing things through walls, but reasonably easy routes need to be there to make that work.
@willemj - everything you say makes sense, and I believe that the Antimode is best used if inserted between the preamp and the subwoofer (keeping it out of the path to the mains).  But the Vandersteen system requires a speaker level connection from the amp to the subwoofer, which means that the Antimode would need to be inserted upstream of both the mains and the sub.  This was the situation with my Quad57's where a sub was not needed in my room.
What about running two parallel cables, and stacking to spades together on the same spade blog? I would be concerned about the connection, and not being optimal. Thoughts? Better to terminate with a single speed at the amplifier side?
Other cable recommendations?  I think for the Vandersteens with the McCormack DNA amplifier you will need a biwire with single spades on the amp side split into two runs with double spades on the speaker side. Unless you want to stuff two spades on the DNA binding posts, which can be quite cumbersome. I understand that you are using the bananas on the DNA binding posts for your subwoofer.  So I think you will need custom cables (I believe Vandersteen doesn't favor using jumpers at the speaker side).  So how about some ideas for cables that can be made biwire in the "Y" configuration and with the smaller spades that fit Vandersteen binding terminals?  And how much to spend on speaker cables? I have liked clearday cables as good bang for the buck.  Other suggestions?