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Upgrade DAC Power Supply, Streamer, or ?

This is a bit long but I wanted to give as much info as possible. My current system: Van Alstine SET 400 amp, Van Alstine T-10 RB tube pre-amp, Denon HEOS 2 streamer, Merason Frerot DAC with factory wal-wort power supply, Salk HT2-TL tower speakers.  I would say this system is slightly warm of neutral, open and detailed. I enjoy listening for long sessions with no fatigue. I've been streaming through Tidal for a year and rarely play CDs or Vinyl anymore.

The external Merason DAC was the most recent addition and works well with the Denon streamer bypassing its internal DAC by using a coaxial cable. It was a noticeable improvement vs. the Denon's internal DAC. 

The Denon HEOS 2 was my entry-level streamer and it does sound good. The only thing I have to compare to is my Wiim Ultra which is also a fine unit with good SQ and features.  The external Merason DAC was a noticeable improvement to both streamers.

Innuos Zen Mini Mk 3 with the Innuos LPS are a reasonable price on the used market and praised for sound quality and also for the SENSE App.  It would also allow me to put my aprox. 1300 CDs on the internal SSD and help with physical down-sizing. I'm not sure if the internal DAC of the Zen is as good or better than the Frerot, but it appears I could bypass the internal DAC using the coax. output.

So which would give me the most bang for the buck by upgrading; the Frerot power supply, or streamer to the Zen Mk 3 ?  I am MAC based and technology is not my forte.  Budget is $2000 or less.  Thoughts and recommendations are appreciated.  Thank you.

 

 

foamcutter
knotscott's avatar
knotscott
1,385 posts
 

On a well evolved system, power supply upgrades from a cheap wall wart to a well designed PSU offer a logical refinement.  I’ve done mostly DIY power supplies, but have never upgraded to an expensive brand name unit, so am not sure how much more you gain by going that route vs a more generic upgrade. I suppose it depends on the system.  My view is that a good generic linear regulated PSU upgrade might allow you to do both upgrades, which could put you further ahead for money spent. 

logistics
63 posts
 

I would say, before you change anything about any of your equipment, get an Ametek Powervar power conditioner behind all of it.  You can get it in a medical-grade with 20 amp outlets if need be.  Just adding this behind my PC, DAC and headphone amplifier immediately yielded a blacker background.  Now, granted my apartment shares a single 20 amp circuit for everything, so im a prime candidate for a conditioner.  But fidelity improvements aside, you'll want to protect your investment. 

robeffy's avatar
robeffy
79 posts
 

As bigtwin posted, I also had a very interesting / informative "chat" with Chatgpt.

It started with comment I wanted to check regarding CD Redbook standard and ended up with me asking for an evaluation of my entire system.

Chatgpt broke it down logically, even told me the best method and why it was best for connecting my music server to my DAC ( AES ). I was given a checklist of settings for JRiver running on my music server. 

I am not familiar with your gear enough to comment on the upgrades.

foamcutter OP
83 posts
 

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful comments, recommendations, and links.  I will have to give more thought to the streamer upgrade. The Zen looks to be a worthy choice over the Zen Mini, but it has no RCA outputs and my preamp has only RCA connections. It seems many of the better streamers don't have RCA out.

I will also be investigating linear power supplies for my Frerot DAC. Can anyone tell me if I should get the same benefits from using the smaller wal-wort plug vs. the larger multi-plug used by the Merason LPS ?

A power conditioner/surge protector is something I have neglected to add and will be on my list.

I'm not at all familiar with Chatgpt that is mentioned but will try it.

Thank you all, and any other comments/recommendations are appreciated.

 

lanx0003
1,928 posts
 

The Zen looks to be a worthy choice over the Zen Mini, but it has no RCA outputs and my preamp has only RCA connections. It seems many of the better streamers don’t have RCA out.

I was confused—why were you thinking about connecting a streamer without a DAC to the preamp? I thought you would be connecting the streamer to a DAC first. The Zen has a USB-A output and the Frerot has a USB-B input, so a USB A-to-B cable is all you need.

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