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What should my next upgrade be? Your best experience

I have the itch to upgrade my system now that I've been in it for a moment. I mostly stream (Deezer) or listen to CD/SACD content. I occasionally play vinyl but rarely, I'm sure I will continue to grow into it but am not looking to improve the TT now. I listen to mostly Classic Rock, Jazz, Blues, and Indie music. I'm listening to Talking Heads (live acoustic) as I write this. The Marantz PM-11s3 has zero issues pushing the Monitor Audio Silver 8s, it actually is a little over kill for them I think, as it has complete control of them, never losing its composure.  So there is zero chance the PM-11s3 is up for replacement at this point.
The room is 14'x40' with 12' ceilings. The system has no issue filling every inch and at high volumes so no issue there.

Current system is -

Marantz PM-11s3
Marantz UD7007
Marantz TT-42 
Sonos Connect
Monitor Audio Silver 8's
Analysis Plus Purple Oval 12 bi-wire
Tributaries 8AB XLR (UD7007 to PM-11s3)
Tributaries 2A RCA (Sonos to PM-11s3)
CyberPower Conditioner

The obvious direction, it seems to me, is speakers? But am I missing something? Would upgrading to a real audio quality conditioner with an upgraded power cable give me something more and set me in the right direction for future upgrades? 
Or am I not where I need to be with cables? Can I make a sonic improvement by upgrading speaker cables and/or interconnects while again getting myself in a good position for future upgrades?
I have to admit that this is the best system I've had and I do love every minute of listening to it.... Its fast, accurate, and punchy yet it has great sound stage and its not clinical. It has that Marantz sound/charm (warm but not clouded).
I know posts like this are common and beaten to death but my system is unique as it is mine and probably not exactly like anybody else's...
Never-the-less, I know I'm nowhere near where most of you are! And I know for a fact I have much less knowledge than most of you. I'd like to keep bettering my system, moving towards the personal listening nirvana if you will. So what direction would you head in if you were in my shoes?
264win
264win OP
51 posts
 
Great input guys! I should have thought about the Sonos myself but that’s why I have you all lol
I’m not at home, so a quick question for the Sonos owners here. Can I bypass the Sonos DAC and use the UD7007s?
264win OP
51 posts
 
OK, so I finally got home and have answered some questions myself with the Sonos 
I'm not sure why I didn't identify it as the weak link much earlier? Maybe because it is so easy? Maybe because Deezer streams at much better quality than most other content sites and really does sound pretty good?
Here is some of Deezer's propaganda
 
"Deezer Elite lets you stream music at CD-quality 1411 kbps in your home (compared to the standard 320kbps), but only on a Sonos system"

So, being true to this thread, I came home and put on some good old Red Book CD through the Marantz UD7007....
Talking Heads - OPUS Collection, 2009 Rhino Recordings (for Starbucks) I think their best non-live disc
I played the OPUS CD through the Marantz song by song against the Sonos streaming Deezer's Talking Heads content.
Again I'm still surprised that the Sonos with Deezer even showed up against the Red Book CD and the Marantz, which it kind of did on some remastered recordings, to a certain extent.
But even the best of the Deezer streaming was no match for the Marantz! It was enjoyable but it lacked in every way!
So now, because of the fact that I do stream a lot of Deezer through the Sonos, I looked to see if I could connect better to my system. Sadly the Marantz just has a Ethernet in? Where the Sonos has RCA or a SPDIF dig out. So I'm kind of stuck here!
I guess I need to figure out how to upgrade my Sonos connection, maybe bypass the Sonos DAC in the process so I can use the UD7007's DAC, or find another streaming system to use with Deezer?
One last question, a hail mary really lol Do you think upgrading the RCA interconnects between the Sonos and the PM-11s3 will help? 

willemj
1,036 posts
 
If there is a sonic difference it may come from a better DAC in your Marantz. However, other causes may be differences in signal level (louder sounds better) or because you may not be playing the same masterings (from what I understand you compared cd and streaming - they may be from different mastering). So it may not be quite so obvious that the Sonos DAC is the culprit.
From what I understand you can wire the Sonos into your ethernet network. That way you would be sending a digital signal to the Marantz and not use the Sonos' DAC.
willemj
1,036 posts
 
Coming back to your original question, I think the best upgrade would be to look into the room. Buy yourself a calibrated measurement microphone, download REW into your computer, and have a look at the in room frequency response. You may be horrified by the low frequency response. You can create an equalization curve in REW and apply that to your computer with something like Equalizer APO (a no cost option), and if you like the improvement, download it into a mini DSP so you can also use it with other sources. Obviously bass traps and the like are another option, but more costly and ugly.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,055 posts
 
@264win,

Upgrading to better RCA IC’s is not an answer, IMHO. The culprit is subpar Sonos internal DAC. The only way to improve sound from SONOS is to use its SPDIF output to an external DAC.

Your Marantz 7007 doesn’t have digital input so don’t think you can use 7007’s internal DAC for streaming from Deezer. 

Either you try another Streamer with built in DAC or buy an external DAC to use with SONOS. You can also look into Oppo UDP-205 or 105D. 

Keep in mind, with Sonos you are restricted to CD quality resolution at best through its digital output. 

There are lots of DAC options so take your time to choose wisely. 

Or try Bluesound Node 2 and see that make audible improvements in your system. 

Good luck!

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