I got my stereo back after almost 20 years!


As the subject says; I got my stereo back after almost 20 years.

The short story is that my mother in law came to visit and didn't leave until last October.  As she aged she started taking over the house.  My reading chair became hers and the family room was where she watched TV.  I've been listening to music on my computer, (with small stacked Bostons and a pawn shop sub) for almost 20 years.  It finally dawned on me that I could buy another stereo.  So for the past 5 months I've been cobbling together a system.

I bought a pair of Quad 2805s as I love the planer/esl sound and listen mainly to jazz.  They arrived with only one speaker working so I had them completely rebuilt and upgraded by Kent at Electrostatic Solutions.  My system currently is:

Quad 2805 speakers
Prima Luna Dialogue HP
Cambridge Audio CD transport
DacMagic 100

I ripped all my CDs to a Macbook using DBpoweramp and stream with Spotify.

So here's the dilemma;

I really can't hear much of a difference between Spotify, my ripped music on my Macbook or the transport.

I realize that the weakest links are the front end.

Here are my questions I need help with:

1. Should I buy a new DAC?  Something like the Schiit Gungiar (sp?) or PS Audio NU Wave?  Or would I be better off getting a network player that can also stream?  I do like running things off the Mac.

2.  I'm 64 and my hearing is obviously not what it once was.  If I upgraded would I hear any difference?  The downside of being 64 is not hearing as well but it may also be an upside as I could save considerable dollars!

3. I'm also 250-275 miles away from the nearest dealers and that presents a problem auditioning gear.  Also most dealers don't carry Quads. 

4.  And finally I am comfortable spending around $2000 plus or minus. 

Any suggestions?  I live in the SE corner of Washington State and would gladly pm my telephone number if you'd like to call and walk me through some ideas.

Thanks in advance,

Bob
jzzmusician

Showing 3 responses by marktomaras

No, AIFF is fully uncompressed with zero loss, you made the correct choice. You're in a good position, DAC technology changes fast, which means they depreciate faster than speakers, amps, and analog gear.  If you have a budget in the neighborhood of $2k, you can get a lot for it.

i cannot speak for all the myriad DACs out there, but I can speak with confidence about my setup, which is excellent.

PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC mk II
($4,000 new, $1350-$1450 used)

Mac mini, external hard disk, $90, basic but high quality Transparent USB cable.

CDs ripped in AIFF, some high res music files in various better than CD resolutions, subscription to Tidal HiFi with full CD quality streaming, music control software by Roon.

this seems to all be within your budget.  This setup sounds absolutely outstanding. I'm sure there are several ways to get better sound, but this keeps fairly close pace with my analog rig worth $7k!

I very highly recommend Roon software.  Simply amazing.  I also recommend dropping Spotify in favor of Tidal Hifi; you can't beat uncompressed!

hope this is useful info, enjoy!
My mother in law has Krell amps and Wilson speakers!  You should have seen the look on my face when I visited her house for the first time.  I knew we would get along well (and we do)!