Is it all in my head?

Welcome to hi-end world of fantasy differences that impact your wallet and not your ears. Sadly, since you are now among the unbelievers, you will not be able to fund our madness any further. However, we will move on to others. The beast will not let us have peace.

B limo - I had a similar experience when I upgraded my cdp from a Yamaha CDX1030 to a Meridian G08. I was talking with a friend (who had a much nicer setup) and he suggested stop comparing every few min. He said I was used to the Yamaha sound and just listen to the Meridian for a few days but preferably weeks and then put the Yamaha back in. I couldn't wait weeks so after 3 days I put the Yamaha back in. Now I heard the difference but still wasn't all that impressed for the money. Anyhow I ran the Meridian for several weeks and decided to put the Yamaha back in for giggles and yes I hear a huge difference which made me think how could I have not heard the difference then. Anyhow I still can't answer my own question to myself. So now that several years went by I can honestly say the Yamaha sounds very dry and much less dynamic compared to the Meridian.

02-23-13: Rodman99999
What cable are you using, between the transport and DAC? Less than excellent and you could negate any audible gains that, otherwise, might be realized via the outboard DAC.

That's right B. You need to buy one of those $2500(at the very least) cables to hear the difference. Some of those $750 each footers will help also.

Thanks for the advice T but I ain't no cheapskate. I ordered the $3500 toslink and the $1,000 footers. The reviews state that I'll hear new things on all my music, the soundstage is wider with liquid mids, airy highs and the tightest bass this side of the ghetto.

Anywho, I had this long post written out and then my phone died and I lost it so I'll give the condensed version.

A3.2= great sound
A.3.2+z dac = same great sound
Wadia 170i streaming spotify, now for the first time :-) = same great sound as a3.2.

I'm happiest about this last equation because spotify was always equal to about 90% of what I got from my cd's, now it's equal.
Big smile.

It was easy for me to do a/b comparisons in all these tests. All I had to do was switch inputs on my pre amp. I listened to the same songs, started at the same time and would switch back and forth between inputs with my remote so I'm certain in what I was hearing between the various set-ups.

Next, I'm going to upgrade from the wadia 170i wal wart to a welborne power supply. If this improves the sound from the wadia, my wadia will sound better than my cd player, which sounds great.

On a side note, I listened to my brothers klf 10's through an onkyo reciever (the onkyo was my first purchase 9 months ago when I started all this madness, and I thought then, that it was the cats pajamas) plugged into my i phone via a 20 foot 3.5 mm to rca plug. I played the same music I listen to everyday on my set up with the same i phone and the difference was absolutely huge. My rig leaves it for dead. :-) He's definitely going to need the $5,000 tos link and the $2000 footers to equal my set up.

If you can't hear any difference than there is no difference. I wouldn't worry about it. After 30 some years in this hobby, I have learned that what is really important is in enjoying the music rather than chasing after every little change different equipment produces.