Should I upgrade DAC, speaker cables, ICs, or PCs?

I think it's time to begin borrowing cables from the Cable Co. and begin tuning your system... actually, enabling & refining your system.

Wires do matter. They ain't much fun and they seem like such a non player, but WIRES DO MATTER.... A LOT. If you want to see what your components are truly capable of.

Especially power cords.

Putting something like a Voodoo Black Dragon, Tsunami, Mongoose, Airsine, etc., on the CDP, and perhaps a Taipan helix Alpha on the Mac amp, should allow for some sort of DAC to be added as well if indeed $1500 is on tap for disposal. Lavry, Apogee, BC, all should help.

It is time though to investigate the cabling in your system. Power cords are more a foundation principle IMHO. I try to begin there first as a rule of thumb when I add or swap out a device… my next step is to add – replace it’s PC.

Blue Heaven ICs aren't bad ICs... Very spacious sounding, but that's about it. Put a pr of Cardas Neutral Refs in there as your main ICs and you'll hear every change up or down stream... better. The NR cables are IMO cables everyone should have on hand somewhere if not in the system, then certainly available. They're the pretty much, 'next ' step up from the BH's. More natural, more refined top end, and better mids. Nicer looking too.

Personally I’d get rid of those speaker cables “toot suite”, but that’s just me… then make other moves, like PCs, ICs, &/or DACs.

I know you’re going to do as you want… everyone does and many have their minds made up going into posts like this. They’re usually just seeking validation or support for their own ideas.

Of course as things are a DAC is the one item that’ll turn your head now. It’ll make a very big difference, if you keep your CDP.

Cabling however, and especially power cords first will enable what you have to perform better, hence SOUND better.

But trust me on this.. owning $12K of components or more, and using $200 - $400 worth of cabling is doing yourself an injustice. Plain and simple. Notwithstanding, the camp against upscale wires. …and why I said to ‘borrow’ some first, or do the Agon shuffle and try out some of the more popular wires and resell them if not well pleased.

PCs for the front end, and amp, plus a DAC can be had for $1500. A set of Audio art speaker cables for instance might could be added in there too. Thereafter… your main IC is a key to your system.

You wouldn’t run a Viper on skinny recaps and regular gas now, would you? How is this scenario any different?

as belated as this may well be...

aS Macdadtexas AND I HAVE BOTH SAID… IT’S A MIX. Try as many as you can. The more popular ones will be easier to both get and get rid of if necessary.. usually. Sometimes popular works against you in the Audiogon buy & Try shuffle.

I say again, the BC DAC III is a fine enough place to start..lavry is another. Both camps are engineered by top people and innovators in the digital to analog conversion racket.

I’d also disagree with some statements on how upsampled DACs sound. Normally, the higher the sampling rate the easier the top end will be on the ears and the better the ambient retrieval. Resolution and details are a part of the design and materials.

Not the result of oversampling per se.

BTW…. There’s a lot of artificial sounds when the original band isn’t right therein
the room.

My 2ch audio system isn’t what I’d call a warmly romantic affair. I would put it a tick or two onto the warmish side, but more than that I felt it needed two things done better… Bottom end resolution and greater resolution and detail overall, which lends itself to better imaging and gets you closer to reality, or at least the illusion of it.

Wether I use it with SS front to back, or a mix of tubes and SS, (either way T+SS or SS+T), the BC DAC III is NOT anything close to bright sounding. It’s about as neutral a device as I think you can get for the money that they are selling for lately around here.

Remember too… ‘bright’ is in the ear of the beholder, and can be accounted for by many factors. Jitter. Mismatching. Ground loops. Power line artifacts. Poor isolation and/or racks. The recording. The room. Your ears… And so on …

The BC D3 allows for a lot of value and flexibility for the $$$. I agree with Macdadtexas it ought to be a nice fit in your system as it is now. If there is resultant glare, hardness, stridency, etc., it’s not going to be the fault of the BC dac. Look elsewhere about your system.

I listen to all sorts of music. All sorts. I need speed, impact, depth, articulate bass, definition, spot on imaging, and balance in the bandwidth to accommodate all these various genres.

If I were to listen ONLY to Ella and Frank, maybe some other DAC would still be here. I’d not wish to hamstring my system though.

Upgrading the system is not a matter of it being a balancing act so much as it should be a step closer to the music itself, while keeping everything on a listenable and musical tilt. Involving. Enjoyable.

That’s where balancing comes into play. Not by compensating for errors or shortdcomings elsewhere.

I’ve played your amp or one like it in my home . … it’s not a bright amp.

The BC D3 might even become a step up over your current preamp as it has remote volume control too.. Add a highface 24 192 if going all PC all the time and you’ve got a real upgrade on your hands. Add a Oyaide T510 cable, or an XV 2 Ultra for abut $200 +/- and you’re in like Flint.

You’ll love you CDP all over again too Good luck..

Lewinskih01

I thought I had posted reviews here on the ‘gon about both the Lavry DA10 & Bel Canto DAC III. Just now looking back at them, I see only the BC D3’s appraisal.

Apparently the Lavry article has gone missing or been deleted.

Read through that BC review and you should get a better feel for what it does, but also check out the other reviews online, especially the Stereophile review.

In the Lavry account I made the allegory between the two something like this::

I felt the BCD3 was the Dodge Viper, and the Lavry DA 10 perhaps a BMW 500 series. Both will get you there however the ride is different. The Viper being more exhilarating. the BMW being the more svelte.

My Knowledge base and equipment levels have both been increased since that two year old paper was issued. Other gear has come and some items are no longer here. The BCD3 remains.

Different software is now in use, a different interface as well, and I’m 98% PC based music via server. I don’t use USB or SPDIF, but BNC to feed the BCD3.

The Vaunted Sony 777 was sold. Why? I get as good and often far better audio now from the hard drive based arrangement I currently use…. IMHO. Otherwise, I’d sure have kept it.

The better the drive, the better the results will be when attached to a good DAC that controls jitter. BNC & AES are the least jittery interfaces. Consequently I use the Hiface as a USB to BNC converter with an Oyaide BNC silver cable. Things have not been better!

Shortly after my posting on the BCD3 Stereophile’s JA published his review and measurements on the D3. he counted the jitter from each interface too. Check out that article… in it he mentions that the BC DAC3 was at that point the best measured device he had yet to test.

Jitter is key. A very big deal! It’s not the ONLY deal though but it’s way up on the list. The BC d3 does a great job on jitter reduction. Given it’s current preowned selling price, the fact it can be upgraded by BEL CANTO to higher levels after the fact, I find it still a great value and now more than before.

But to frustrate you again, it is your call, and some other DAC might well suit your needs. So that’s your call.

If as with the Lavry, some of those mentioned herein have generous return policies, and you have the cash up front, I’d say go on and audition some. Trying a couple or three, costs then only the shipping, perhaps no more than $100 over them all…. If that.

I have made my choice and am fine with it. Still.

Would I be in the hunt for another DAC had I more funds?

Probably.

But THAT price tag would be severely higher, literally by a few grand. As the review I read recently at CA on the Weiss 202 interests me…. But $6500.00?

Nope. Not here anytime soon.

There also would be no guarantee for better. Only the unspoken warranty for different. Which is always the case with audio gear and accounts so much for the exact same piece being in two different systems in two different peoples homes, and them both saying entirely different things about the same identical unit!... as you’ll see in my BC review if you read thru the comments too.

Good luck