Sound improvement with DAC, or Amp update


Hi there, i am a newbie to audio equipment. I recently got an upgrade of speaker from a 20 years old Mordaunt short MS10 to a B&W 606 S2. I am really enjoying the new sound and music that resulted from the update, and found myself drawn to listening more and wanting more.

I am currently using an old AV surround receiver Yamaha (HTR-5830) that is  delivering 110 Watts per channel on stereo to drive the 606 S2. My streamer source is - youtube music / Amazon prime HD music, running on Ubuntu PC with on board sound card, feeding via S/PDIF optical to the Yamaha Amp.

Looking for advice on what I could do for better sound quality with another small investment, should I consider my next upgrade on a DAC (e.g.Cambridge Dacmagic 200), or swap out the Yamaha  HTR5830 to a more modern integrated Amp with DAC (e.g. CXA81), or a new streamer device ?, which would have the most positive impact on the sound quality with my new 606 S2 speaker ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Best Wishes, Paul

 

 

paulyap2k

Showing 1 response by mceljo

I’m far from an expert, but after looking at the specs on your B&W speakers and Yamaha receiver, I would think that you’d benefit more from a better amplifier than a DAC.

 

The Cambridge Audio integrated lists for $1,500. It looks to have preouts that would allow for a power amplifier upgrade in the future (Good). It’s rated at 4 ohms (Good). Is Class AB (good).

The Yamaha integrated lists for $900. It looks to have preouts (good). It’s only rated for 6 ohms that should work with your speakers, but a 4 ohm rating is a strong indicator of a better amplifier. Looks to have a decent DAC (good).

The Rotel integrated lists for $1,600. It looks to have preouts (good). It is rated for 4 ohms (good). Looks to have a great DAC feature set (good).

I don’t have experience with any of these components, but have had a couple of Cambridge Audio amplifiers briefly and really didn’t like the sound. It was "grainy" to my ears. I looked for another Yamaha a little farther up the line, but the next jump is significant. I suspect the Yamaha would be a fairly high value item. Out of these options, I’d probably go with the Rotel. You might also look at a Marantz PM8006 that retails for $1,500. I tend to think that you can sometimes get a higher value from a bigger company that has buying power and manufacturing capability.

The primary features that I’d look for is preouts and 4 ohm capability. Specs are not everything, but I consider these two be reasonable indicators of a decent amplifier. Hope this helps.

Update: I just realized that the Marantz doesn't have a built-in DAC, so not quite the same as what you're looking at.