if you had my system and $2,000 budgeted for an upgrade, where would you spend it?

SOURCE!

I recently purchased an AudioMods tonearm, which is a drop-in replacement for the Rega.  I find it to be a significant improvement over my previous RB300.

Fitmartin, can you elaborate?

"Mystic river, really? The DSD version is a huge improvement? Of course I have heard that, but is the difference THAT big? Does one need DSD files to realize the improvement? Most of my music is Redbook CD ripped to AIFF, but I do have a nice collection of higher res stuff."

1. The DirectStream is the real deal.
2. It does not require DSD files, it plays everything.
3. Don't take my word for it.

PS Audio
Pure DSD done right

Just released! The latest operating system update, Yale Final. Transform your DirectStream, yet again, with this stunning new OS. And, it’s free!

Introducing DirectStream DAC, both Stereophile and Absolute Sound’s Product Of The Year. Hand written, discrete, perfection based conversion that uncovers all the missing information hiding in your digital audio media for all these years. CD’s, downloads, high-resolution PCM or DSD based media are expertly upsampled in the DirectStream to ten times DSD rate and output as pure analog directly into your amplifier or preamplifier. Classic PCM based DACS, including many of today’s DACS that can also process DSD, tend to cover up some of the subtle musical details buried deep within digital audio music; a problem inherent in their architecture. DirectStream solves this problem by employing a pure DSD single-bit approach for both PCM as well as DSD media. This means that your entire library of music can finally reveal all the music and subtle low level details buried deep within its core. Imagine going to a recording studio and listening to a master tape of any recording made. This is the experience DirectStream provides its owners who enjoy a renewed sense of enjoyment and discovery when listening to everything in their library: CD’s, downloads, DSD.

http://www.psaudio.com/directstream-dac/

Part Time Audiophile
Hottest thing to come out of PS since forever
The DirectStream DAC is the hottest thing to come of PS Audio since forever. This unconventional design, even as it does all manner of violence to the heart of the purist with all of his “do nothing to the signal” whining, just kills it. Its performance is on par with some of the very best “traditional” designs on the market, and with its potential for endless upgradability, the DirectStream is revolutionary.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/04/11/review-ps-audio-directstream-dsd-dac/

Stereophile
Art Dudley
Time will tell if and when these levels of performance, flexibility, and luxury will become available for less than $6000. But today, for those who've waited for a computer-friendly DAC that offers, with every type of music file, the best musicality of which DSD is capable, the PerfectWave DirectStream may be in a class by itself.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-da-processor#WVXu7Rd9H0hciixc.9... 

The Absolute Sound
Easily the best DAC I've ever heard in my system
DirectStream’s easily the best DAC I’ve ever heard in my system, making digitally-recorded music sound better than I’ve ever heard it.

http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/TAS-Review.pdf
 
Hi Fi PLus
Chris Martens
The real magic of this DAC may centre on its handling of PCM material—material the DAC gives greater smoothness, fluidity, dimensionality, and elegance than it might otherwise have had. I don’t mean to suggest by this that traditional PCM playback methods cannot or do not sound perfectly good in their own right, because they certainly can and do. But if PCM playback has an identifiable ‘failure mode’ it might be that PCM files can at times sound a bit flat and 2-dimensional, while exhibiting subtly edgy and/or mechanical qualities that tend to hold the listener at arm’s length from the music. ... I will tell you that it makes these sorts of playback problems better—and sometimes eliminates them almost completely.

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/ps-audio-perfectwave-disc-transportdirectstream-dac-with-pikes-peak...
 
Audiophilia
PS Audio achieves the impossible
The DS is a game changer; I think it has caused the ‘war’ between DSD and PCM to be on hold or mute for most of us, and above all hold your horses before buying expensive high-resolution PCM files or DSD. That alone is a major accomplishment.

http://www.audiophilia.com.vs5.korax.net/wp/?p=13620
 
Home Theater Review
the best sound I have heard in my system. Kudos to Ted and Paul
The DirectStream DAC is one of the finest-sounding DACs I have heard. Many will be excited just to see that it can accept DSD signals, but I would say that they are being shortsighted. The DSD processing of all signals is what makes this unit special.

http://hometheaterreview.com/ps-audio-directstream-network-audio-player-and-dac/ 

AV Magazine (South Africa)
It sets a new benchmark in my books
The PS Audio DirectStream is a musically authentic, thoroughly engaging and ultimately compelling DAC that elevates the listening experience to an entirely new level. Its treatment of any digital material, regardless of format, is quite astounding — even MP3s and Internet radio sounded vibrant and exciting.

http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/PS-Audio.pdf
 
Stereo Magazine (Germany)
100 out of 100
Matthias Böde of Germany's Stereo Magazine gives DirectStream 100 out of 100 points. The article is in German, but it can easily be translated and viewed if German's not your native language.

http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/PS-Audio-Stereo-11-2014.pdf
 
6 Moons
The best way we've yet encountered to turn digital into music
But what happened now was beyond our expectations. Maybe we had been lulled into a bit of been-there-done-that reviewer fatigue but the DirectStream’s handling of this CD became a rude wakeup call and put us back on edge to eat crow. Damn, the performances of the various groups and soloists were so real and at such dynamic range, it was hard to believe that the source material was a simple 16/44.1 Redbook CD.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/psaudio/1.html
 
AudioStream
There was an amazing sense of purity to the DirectStream's way with music as if everything and anything extraneous had been stripped away.
Even at low listening levels, music retained its character with no sense of the sound washing out. For those people looking for a direct-to-amp DAC/Digital Preamp, consider the DirectStream a solid contender.

http://www.audiostream.com/content/ps-audio-directstream-dac#6X70AvjzSiVwa6lk.97 

Stereo Times
the PS Audio DirectStream is the most musically and technically capable device of any type that I’ve ever had the pleasure to evaluate
After listening to the PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream DAC for the past few months it is my opinion that DirectStream represents a new benchmark in audio reproduction. Notice that I didn’t say “digital audio reproduction.” In other words, in my view the PS Audio DirectStream is the most musically and technically capable device of any type that I’ve ever had the pleasure to evaluate. My heartfelt congratulations go out to Paul McGowan, Ted Smith, and PS Audio’s excellent design team for making DirectStream a reality for those of us who truly love our music.

http://www.stereotimes.com/post/ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-dac/
 
Positive Feedback
this bloody DAC, DSD to the fore, is a real killer. Flat-out, stone-cold, and damn-straight
This is a brilliant design, with exceptional execution, and paradigm-setting sound.I can tell you, this bloody DAC, DSD to the fore, is a real killer. Flat-out, stone-cold, and damn-straight.It has been a while since 2008, but now I have to say that the DirectStream DAC is the first real rival to Playback Designs that I've heard. It goes right to the top of my heap of DSD DACs, right next door to the PD Series-3.The envelope for the audio arts has moved out yet again. To tell you the truth, I couldn't be more pleased! This is good for music, for our recordings, and for us all.And that is the highest compliment that I can pay to PS Audio's breakthrough product….

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue74/psaudio_directstream.htm 

Bit Perfect
The DirectStream’s sound is non-fatiguing in an almost tube-like way
The DirectStream’s sound is non-fatiguing in an almost tube-like way. It is smooth and relaxing. Surely, you tell yourself, it must be sacrificing detail to deliver this. But no. With recording after recording, the DirectStream presents layers and layers of detail in such a way as to produce a sound which is very easy to listen to, and with a low fatigue factor, even with CD sources. As someone with very little tolerance for the fatiguing nature associated with CD, I find this to be a most appealing characteristic.

http://www.bitperfectsound.blogspot.ca/2014/05/directstream-i.html 

Headphone Guru
I choose to nominate the new flagship DAC from PS Audio
It is truly an exceptional product, and a DAC that allows even the most familiar music to surprise and enthrall.Yes, the folks at PS Audio understand that with digital audio, there can be no final word. Meet the Directstream – a DAC that is ready to keep up with the conversation.

http://headphone.guru/ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-dsd-dac/




 

If you haven't got one - a proper record cleaning machine. The essential item for every vinyl fanatic. I wet clean every LP once when I buy it and put it into a proper inner sleeve. Transforms your second hand LPs and reduces static and dust build up on new LPs.