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A mistake spending too much on amplification?

I was wondering if I screwed up by spending too much money on amplification? I have been upgrading my amp/preamp for awhile now (I started with a CODA Unison, then upgraded to a McCormack DNA-125 and EE Minimax, then to a Herron pre, and now mating that with Sixpacs). And, although there are subtle improvements, I am not hearing any night/day improvements, even when I go back to the CODA. And the CODA is much cheaper!

Does this mean I outpaced my speakers? Kind of like putting a supercharged turbo engine in a car with bald tires? Speakers are VS VR2's and Soliloquy 6.3's. Anyone have a good estimation on amplification costs relative to speaker costs? Sell the better amplification; use the money to buy better speakers?
chiho
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
With that said, the original intent of my question was to determine whether it makes more sense to pair $5K speakers with $2.5K amplification than the other way around.
Opinions will vary, mine is, yes, go for the speakers, as Bigbucks5 says.
tomryan
796 posts
 
Not sure this is relevant, but I'm driving $1,400.00 monitor speakers with $11,000.00 worth of amp/pre-amp. Oh yeah, and $3,450.00 in wires. The system sounds superb and even though the speakers were supposed to be interim after selling my Harbeths, they're staying for a while.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,137 posts
 
Chiho, you're over analyzing the situation. Be happy that your system sounds good.

Ask an average non-audiophile music lover how much better a $100k+ audiophile reference mega-system sounds than the best system you can buy at Best Buy/Circuit City/Radio Shack and they will say one system sounds a little better than the other. Only audiophiles think there are dramatic differences between components.
sherod
1,690 posts
 
Chiho, your room dimensions and contents would still be helpful in determining your next step to take. I also feel that upgrading your cabling will also benefit your system in tweaking that last bit of nuance for that "lifelike" sound that you're seeking.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
I'm driving $1,400.00 monitor speakers with $11,000.00 worth of amp/pre-amp. Oh yeah, and $3,450.00 in wires.

Tomryan,

FWIW, IMHO, Assuming that you already have a great amp/pre-amp and source (at that price it most certainly better be good).....then, on your next move towards upgrading, consider to sell you cables and upgrade your speakers. Physical limitations of transducer & box design mean that your speakers and their interaction with the room will always be the weakest link. Speakers improve dramatically above $1500 and again dramatically above about $4000, like anything there are diminishing returns above mega high prices ($10k+), but investing more than twice the amount in wires compared to speakers is quite likely limiting your overall system performance. Wires are wires and it sure is nice to have good wires but, IMHO, lamp cord is 99.9% ok most of the time, and it is what people used for decades until this cable thing became a big market.
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