2. amps-preamps
  3. 1079461449

Suggestion please: How to improve sound.

As a new comer to audio world, I gradually build my system:

Theta Data II transport.
Theta Pro Basic II DAC.
Audio Research LS-15 tube preamp (superb).
Aragon 8008 Mk2.
NHT 3.3.

All cables are Monster's at this time. For speaker cables, DIY cat5 is on the way. I am using gauge 12 generic cable now.

This system sound pretty good to me. However, I feel it should sound better. The only A/B test I did is to compare preamp to Myryad MP100 and Threshold F10, LS-15 sounds absolutely better, smooth and more musical. I also compare Aragon amp to Threshold S300 and seems NHT 3.3 likes power.

Overall, I feel this system could sound more transparent and more airy. Since I have no chance to do many A/B test to pickup the best equipement, I would like to hear some comments from real audiophiles here. Which is bottle neck in my system?

But I don't have too much money to burn. I once heard Pass Lab X350 which superb, but it is just too expensive. I was thinking about Aragon Palladium. I wonder if upgrade from 8008 to Palladium with more power will improve a lot?

Any comments are welcome and thanks in advance.

Roy
roy2001

Showing 1 response by bombaywalla

bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
I might be repeating what has already been mentioned by other members but what you can do to optimize your system is
(1) work on treating your room. There is some excellent info on the WWW. Use your favourite search engine & type "Jon Risch". You'll learn about tube traps, high freq absorption using panels & lots more stuff.
(2) Work on speaker placement. You can get info from Cardas's website & from the Audio Physik website.
(3) If you have not already, spike your speakers. I suspect that the NHT 3.3 are already spiked by design (?).
(4) Work on isolating your CDP & DAC from your rack. Various methods are available for this depending on your budget. Using ceramic or carbon-fibre cones is a start. You can also build a Symposium-like DIY platform. You can also use an inflated bicycle inner tube for isolation. Some other audiophiles have created a hammock-like suspension system & their CDP & DAC is slung from this suspension. Search the Audiogon archives for more info. In the isolation dept. the sky's the limit in terms of ideas to isolate gear from the rack.

If you pay attention to the room itself, the gains from that are plenty to take your system to another level. It is, sadly, the most forgotten element in most people's 2-ch setup!!
More to discover