Please recommend for my next upgrade


My upgrade bug bites me again, although I ok with my current system. My current system consist of:

B&W CDM9NT
Rotel RB 1080 power amp
Audible Illusions L1 preamp
Sony BDP350 Bluray player
Maverick Audio TubeMagic DAC
1 Volex 17604 power cord on power amp
Straight wire speaker cable
Other coaxial and RCA cables are just no name ordinary cables
Monster surge protector (not power conditioner)

I think my weakest links are:
Sony player
Maverick Audio DAC
no power conditioner
power cords
interconnects

I know everything plays a role, but given budget constraint of $500, what would you recommend to upgrade first that will give me biggest bang for the buck? I am thinking probably the player and DAC. Any recommendation?
gte357s

Showing 3 responses by gte357s

Yes, I am asking from the 2 channel perspective. I have another home theater set up with I enjoy blu-ray. Sorry that I didn't make it clear. So, if for 2 channel music, is the Oppo SE up to the standard?
Thanks for all the reply. Just a missing detail, my Maverick Audio is already using GE tube. Actually, I am using a Rotel preamp now, and just bought a used AI preamp, it hasn't come yet. So, since the AI is already a tube preamp, I am not sure if I still should use the tube buffer from DAC, it seems it is a overdoing .. but I will try. And I heard good things on the Ratheon tube on Maverick. I can also try different tubes on the AI preamp.
And it seems the next thing I should do is the power cord and add a power conditioner.
I did some research on the porter port .. if change the port for the power bar, would it still be better since there is a power bar in front?
For the CDP. I did some research people recommend Rega Planet/Jupiter, or Musical Fidelity. But I also read some people commeting that with new DAC like Benchmark / Lavry which has jitter reduction, chaning the CDP may not bring any improvement. I am more leaning towards to upgrade my DAC instead of CDP. It is more versatile as I want to set up a music server, and I don't want to have 2 player, one dedicated to CD and one Blu-ray. And actually, the Maverick sounds decent, but I haven't try other more expensive DAC like the PS Audio with Cullen mod, so, I can't tell. Does any one have any experience in both and can tell if that worth the upgrade?
My current Maverick DAC is only $200, to me, it is quite a bargain. When I first plug it in, I got an impression that it gives more detail and more dynamic. Then in one afternoon, I did a A/B test with and without the DAC. I found out the DAC just gives me a louder sound. If I switch to without, and turn up the volume a little bit, I can't hear any difference, or very very minor differences. I thought the processor should have a large impact on sound, but it seems not. Same as the power cord. After I switch the Volex power cord, I feel more bass. I didn't bother to do a A/B test because it is too troublesome. But now, I think it may be again just the loudness. Even the amp .. I originally use a Denon receiver, than I thought it doesn't have enough power to drive my speaker, so I bought a Rotel amp. After I hook it up, still very little improvement, just a bit more basss. To me, it seems the components that affect the sound the most are:

The source - CD
Preamp, each has its own characteristics. Adding a preamp sounds alot better than my Denon receiver.
And most important and obvious of all, the speakers. I tried quite some speakers, and finally land on B&W, and don't bother to try again, because it is too big to move around.

Although I am very tempted to upgrade the power cord, the ICs, the DAC ... etc, but I think maybe I should just save some money and upgrade my speakers to the B&W 802