For Bahston and ghdprentice: I, too, am older, having recently completed my eighth decade. Five years ago I made the decision to upgrade/replace my 1980s/1990s two channel system after we had finished paying off the children's college educations and an addition and upgrades to our home, as I am somewhat disabled--but still ambulatory and in no immediate particular risk of passing my expiration date. .
The process began when, while searching for a modest upgrade beyond my 1990s Infinity Modulus/Subwoofer system, I was absolutely stunned by a pair of Fyne Audio F-702 speakers. (This was before a sharp price increase and, in th end, with a discount because, when the Fynes arrived, the finish was not what I had ordered.) After my much better half actually encouraged me with "if you really like them that much, then just buy them." It was then time to find electronics that did credit to those speakers. I, too, was intrigued by tubes and started with a modest tube preamplifier, which was later traded in towards a Rogue Audio RP-7 preamp, with which I am fairly pleased. I also then added a tube power amplifier to replace my refurbed McIntosh MC2120, of which I was the original owner. I found, however, that even a well-respected tube power amp did not provide the sound quality I was looking for, and I switched back to solid state power amplifiers, settling on mono bloc Kismets from Odyssey Audio. I have concluded that the combination of a good tubed preamplifier and solid state power amplification is the best combination for me. In my experience, quality solid state amplifiers are able to provide most of the charactristics of a tube amplifier while providing very solid bass reproduction. Also, a quality 200 wpc solid state amplifier can be much less expensive than the equivalent quality tubed power amplifier--and there is no need for tube replacement. The Kismets are likely to be the end state for me in terms of power amplifiers--the sound they put out with my system is just that good
Last fall I made the jump from using my iPad Pro to stream music from Apple to the Innuos Stream 1--with LPS1 linear power supply, Phoenix USB reclocker module, and a 2 TB SSD--with Tidal as my music source. Having switched to streaming, I suspect that I will seldom put a CD in my NAD CD player--used as a transport into my Schiit Audio Gungnir 2 DAC--because streaming is just so very convenient. The quality of music reproduction on streaming depends, of course, on the source material, but overall it is excellent in terms of tonal qualities, sound stage, and instrument and voice location. The convenience of streaming "seals the deal" for me.
However, I must admit that, this past weekend, I did pull out one of my Sheffield studio LP discs and put it on my Thorens TD 126 MKII turntable, and the quality of music reproduction was stunning--it seemed much more dynamic, "organic," and had more "presence." So, while I will have to do more comparisons between streaming and the LPs, I will be keeping my modest collections of LPs and playing them occasionally.
One last thought is to be sure to budget for upgraded cables. I don't think it necessary to spend "a kazillion" dollars on cabling, but upgrading beyond the most basic cables has, in my case, paid off quite nicely. The most expensive cabling I have purchased were the Silversmith Fidelliums for my speakers. Overall, I have spent almost exactly ten percent of my total system cost--including my ButcherBlock Acoustics shelving--on cabling. I noticed a modest but noticeable improvement in sound quality with each cable upgrade, except when I added the Fidelium speaker cables, which had an astounding impact on the sound quality ... far more of an improvement than I ever expected--even my non-audiophile but music-loving wife immediately noticed and commented on the improved sound quality after the switch from a respectable cable to the Fideliums.
Best wishes in your efforts, and ... enjoy the music!
