Hey all wanted to provide an update!
I readjusted my speakers to be a bit farther from the wall, and toed them out a bit more. I think they were just angled in a bit too much. I also removed the foam plugs in the reflex ports on the back of the speakers that I forgot were in from when I moved back last year. Sound is pretty incredible as of now. I think the Yamaha is continuing to burn in, and sounding better and better.
I have change the networking in the room to eliminate as many wireless signals as possible. I have run a Cat7 cable from my router over to my system area, and have a switch and additional Cat7 cables running to the Node, my TV, my BlueRay/SACD Player and my AppleTV 4k. I’ve also manually turned off all of the WIFI cards in these devices. I’ve also began to use Qobuz, after reading many nasty things about MQA. Thank you all for pointing me in this direction. I have also gone through and cleaned up some of the interconnects in the system to bring them up to a better spec all around.
This has all made a difference to my ears. I probably changed too many things in too small of a window to try and isolate what has turned the corner in me being really happy all in all with the system.
Now onto the prospective new parts:
Went out and trialed a few subwoofers. Definitely believe that the SB-3000 is where I am leaning. It isn’t too big, I prefer the tightness and punchiness of the sealed box, vs the more boomy ported, and the app integration for being to have a DSP to do some correction in the room. I may add a second to the system later, but I have a feeling that will be a massive upgrade.
Finally the DAC. This is such a hard thing to judge off of spec sheets on a computer screen. In an ideal world, I’d buy multiple DAC’s, burn them in, A/B for multiple weeks, and then make my decision. I sadly do not have this luxury. Right now I’m leaning towards the Pontus II. For me, the streamer aspect isn’t a draw. I’d rather just have a dedicated DAC. If I get tired of the N130, I would most likely move to doing a RaPi4 with Roon integration, or something similar. Gustard’s A26 and R26 products peak my interest, but same as well with the Pontus II, and even the Holo Spring 3. I believe based on what I have read, while a DAC won’t completely change the sound of my system, it properly processing the signals to my amp, and limiting the noise coming through, will allow it to portray a better soundstage. I’m still trying to learn about R2R vs DS DAC’s, and which would be a better pairing for my speakers. Thank you all again for the insights you have provided thus far, and I’ll continue to monitor the forums for new products and opinions.
