What is my weakest link?


My gear: All Ayre CX7e, K5Xe and V5Xe. Speakers are Maggie 1.6 and Cables are VD master series balanced ICs, AQ bedrock biwire, Cardas golden PCs. Front end is plugged into a 10-12 year old powerwedge 112 and it actually has it's stock powercord still. The speaker cables and powerwedge are carry overs from an old system.

The master's are new, replaced Cardas golden presence and really brought things to a whole new level.

I'm trying to figure out what to replace next. I eventually want to upgrade speaker cables, power cords and power conditioner but I don't know which would give me the biggest improvement in sound.

AQ bedrocks ----> VD Master series or Revelation biwire
powerwedge 112 ----> RSA Haley or Ayre LX5e
Golden PCs ----> not 100% sure yet but most likely more VD stuff.

what are your thoughts?
adhaney
go to running springs power cond,i have had power wedge before went to shunyata.whole new system.your bedrocks are ok.i would think satori shotguns would put some new life in system,but the old technology of power wedge.thats your weakest link,imho.
Upgrade the AQ Bedrocks, get some demo cables from The Cable company. Also try out the new Synergistic Tesla's.
I would change your speaker cables first. I had a pair of Bedrock cables briefly and wasn't impressed. Joey's suggestion of the Cable Company is a great one.

Arthur
I'll second getting rid of the Power wedge. I had one for years that I finally replaced last month with a Transparent PB8.
It seems you have nice amplification and cdp. Your logical way is upgrading your speakers to more conventional ones like Focal electra 1037 be if finances allow. Btw, don't worry about changing maggies, be tweeter will shine as maggie does. Your new cables has to be Shunyata Res. as Focal-France reccomends.(Dominic Baker, who is responsible for utopia series)If yo do that, you will see the difference soon and will pray for me every night before you sleep.
I recently purchased an Oyaide R1 ac outlet fron Chris @ VH Audio and the results are unbelievable-I was really and truly floored.
I've never owned a Power Wedge but I've heard that it has a tendacy to somewhat veil the sound.
Plug right into the R1 as a starting point and hear what happens.
Good luck!
Adhaney,

So did I but the replacement with the R1 was like night and day...that much of a difference.
Outlet replaced was Virtual Dynamics.
Component-wise, your weakest link is the speaker. I would strongly suggest you try (not buy) out different speakers. Don;t spend money on wires right now.
Ok people. Let me set something straight. I absolutely love my 1.6s and have no desire to replace them anytime soon. I'm asking about the PLC, SCs or PCs, most of which (not the PCs) are carryovers from an old mid-fi system.

thanks
I know an audiophile who was absolutely, resolute that he would always use maggies. His addiction lasted over 20 years. Then after some intervention by his Guru he was put into rehab. He now owns Kharmas and couldn't be happier.
Otherwise get rid of the Bedrocks.
Get rid of the power wedge and the bedrocks,s.forget the speaker suggesters...trust me youll see a big difference.I owned both those items,bedrocks are lifeless,powerwedge limiting,imho
which would give me the biggest improvement in sound.

I'm with Gregm...your speakers are fantastic but when it comes to upgrades you can get more value from a speaker upgrade than the same money spent on cables.

I would add room acoustics to your upgrade list too.

If you want to ignore widsom and stick to spending ever more $1000's on wires/cords then by all means go ahead but this is not, IMHO, "the biggest improvement in sound".
Of course Shadorne and Gregm are right. Magneplanars are among the worst measuring speakers on the planet and they boast limited dynamics. They're also very difficult to place. It just takes some Maggie fans taken in by the "wall of sound" a long time to realize this. Been there, done that.
*sigh*

I want to upgrade speaker cables, power cords and power conditioner but I don't know which would give me the biggest improvement in sound.

AQ bedrocks ----> VD Master series or Revelation biwire
powerwedge 112 ----> RSA Haley or Ayre LX5e
Golden PCs ----> not 100% sure yet but most likely more VD stuff.

how hard is it to stay on track with that? There were three choices.. and speakers wasn't one of them.

Thank you to those who actually paid attention to what I was asking and answered on topic.
9rw

I'm not sure what you mean by 'wall of sound'? I don't get this wall of sound you speak of with my system. What I do have is fairly accurate imaging with good soundstage width and depth and sense of players in a dimensional space. The front of the soundstage is back from the speakers and extends seemingly out past the back wall with drummers/background singers etc towards the back and lead/guitar up front or however people were placed.. and if two people are sitting together at a piano bench you can usually tell who's sitting closest. The maggies just disappear and you hardly know they are there. It could be a little bit more 3-dimensional but it's definitely not a 'wall of sound'

A pair of Watt/puppy 8s I demo'd gave more the impression of a larger than life 'wall of sound'...and didn't sound anywhere near as cohesive or image as well as my maggies.
how hard is it to stay on track with that? There were three choices.. and speakers wasn't one of them.

LOL. I re-read your post and you are quite right. Sorry...my bad. I think the Ayre LX5e would be an awesome upgrade.
OK, then try out different IC -- as in, different in design. Single core, for example. Many people make these and some people offer trials (one of these being an A'gon member -- jadem6).
OTOH, Adhaney, you [b]did[/b] write
I'm trying to figure out what to replace next. I [b]eventually[/b] want to upgrade speaker cables, power cords...
under the the thread title: "What is my weakest link?"
So, ALL of the people answered on topic. Cheers
Greg

sorry perhaps my wording wasn't too clear either. 'Eventually' as in I can't afford to replace all three at once so I'm doing them one at a time.

I actually think I answered my own question yesterday. I unplugged a PC from the powerwedge and that outlet cracked in half and a good portion of the plastic insulator came off. I moved the plugs to another outlet.. but it's loose in the wedge's case.

That can't be a good thing!
Get yourself a good power conditioner. Something that will isolate the digital from the rest of the gear, oh and put a better plug in the wall and take your cyroed out and put it in your new power Cond. if it's better than the one that's in there or move it to where your amp is pluged in.
Keep the amp off the Power Cond.
I would audition a regenerator to use on the low current gear;sources/pre. I don't like them for amps. I could not live w/o what mine does. Especially to the image.

ET