upgrade emm labs preamp or speaker???


I am really enjoying my system of emm labs cdsd transport and emm labs dcc2se transport with a dartzeel amplifier and the recently acquired wonderful evolution acoustic mm2 speaker. I have a dedicated listening room so all is great there. I am happy with my cabling purist and audience.

The speaker is upgradeable to mm3 which adds an additional powered woofer to each speaker.

The preamp is emm labs dcc2se which is also the dac.

I cannot afford the dartzeel preamp...maybe audio research 3
128x128karmapolice
The question is whether to stick with the emm labs preamp or find something else even more transparent if worth the $ or leave that be and get the additional powered woofer to add to the mm2 making it a mm3 with two powered woofers per speaker ....room is avg. Size so am not sure a second woofer is needed but most people have mm3 not mm2

I am especially interested in opinions of emm labs users former or present dartzeel amp users and evolution acoustic users!
i'm partial to supratek and always wondered how a cabernet would stack up against the uber-big boy gear. i love my cabernet dual.

for the price of another pair of evolution acoustics power woofers, you could get two cabernet duals. i say try a cabernet and if it isn't to your liking, you could always resell it for 80-90% of what you paid for it.
I cannot speak to your speakers (pun intended), however I can speak to the preamplifier section of both the dcc2 and the se upgrade as I had mine upgraged to se, after a fair amount of time. I was using the DCC on a mac amp and alto be speakers. A dealer brought by the MBL6010d on his way to another demo. I bought it on the spot. It was much more transparent, much more open, had more flexibility and brought alive the music. I had a Ref II sitting around, and I tried that. Different than the MBL but definitely lifted a veil off of the music as well. I am not a fan of either the emm preamp or the volume control in the Wadia, it just seems that although theoretically they should be pretty good, in reality a really good preamp blows them away. Borrow a good preamp from a dealer you know, and see for yourself even better. Too much money to spend, and any good dealer will bring over a preamp for a couole of hours at the minimum

Cheers!
Chris
chrisla,

thanks for your input.....you got some great equipment there and a wonderful view from your home. I can't afford the mbl preamp even used (not much less than the dartzeel preamp). Did you hear the Audio Research Ref 3 or the Ayre K1xe?
Just the ref 2. The ref two added some gain, a little grain (which took me awhile to hear) but some definite palpability and air. A little more "there". Those are pretty inexpensive used. I hear that the Ref 3 is much better, but have never heard it. I've heard the Dart is a "sweet" amp, so I would be a little careful with tubes, it could potentially be too much of a good thing... or ..then again.... it could be a perfect match.
Cheers!
Chris