How do I know what my system's


Ok, let's say I have some fun money to upgrade something or other in my system. This may sound like a dumb question, but...how does one know where to begin??? I have a collection of pretty decent stuff, and it all sounds pretty good. But since I bought it all at about the same time, my problem is, how am I supposed to know which component to upgrade first to get a meaningful payoff? It's not that I'm unhappy with my system, it's that I have a couple thousand bucks burning a hole.

So I thought I'd post my stuff and see if anything ensued.

CD player: Arcam CD23 FMJ
Preamp: Classe Audio Six (discontinued, expensive model from the mid 90s)
Power amp: Bryston 3B-ST
Loudspeakers: Revel Performa F30s

All cables are by Transparent Audio:
PowerBank Ultra line conditioner
MusicLink Ultra interconnects
MusicWave Super speaker cables

Anyone? Anyone? Does any of this stuff suck enough to suggest an obvious improvement, or is it a total toss-up?
skippack

Showing 2 responses by hoopster

Your experience mirrors mine with the cd playback as I have the same player, the Arcam FMJ CD23. My old Audio Alchemy rig did not differentiate cd playback nearly as much. Good CDs sound good with the Arcam and bad ones sound real bad. Also from a/b comparison with my Denon 2910 (which sounds dark in comparison) the Arcam I think is a tad forward and maybe even to the bright side. Is any of this a bad thing or just the way it is? I still very much enjoy listening to music through the Arcam and to my ears HDCDs sound excellent, I just wish there were more around. BTW, I also have transparent speaker cables. The Classe 6 is a fine preamp, but you may want to consider experimenting by adding a tubed pre. This may mellow out your sound a bit by adding some ear pleasing distortion. If you buy a tubed pre (or get one loaned to you) listen for a couple of weeks and then reinsert your Classe. I think you will find yourself noting the differences. Then decide if you like what the tubed pre did for your system. I went to a tubed pre and gained mellowness but also a widened soundstage. Buy one used and if you don't like it sell it here and get at or close to what you paid. There are several good ones out there in your price range.
I suggested a tubed pre but I do not advocate your going all tubes. Adding a tubed pre would be to mellow out your system and maybe improve your soundstage a bit. As I said I have the same CD player that I am happy with also. I don't think it is a weak link at all. If you listen to rock and or jazz you probably don't want to give up the control, bass, dynamics of your SS amp. Tubed pres are generally not alot of fuss. You should get a few years out of a set of tubes and not have to become a "tube roller". Of course, that particular illness is open to you if you so desire. Different tubes will make your system sound different. Amps can be a different story on the fussy issue. There are alot of people in the tubed pre, SS amp camp as I am. IMHO the tubed pre and SS amp give you the best of both worlds. A word of caution, there can be some trickiness in matching up a tubed pre and SS amp, all will not partner well but those that do make music. Another option would be to add a tube buffer between your pre and CD player. You can buy the Musical Fidelity setup with power supply for about $800 new.