Me too, but it was after both PZ and Front Row Reserve interconnect upgrades with the MU2 (and maybe borrowing Paul172’s power cables too)
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Don’t give me more ideas on cables now😆 I’m drawing a line in the sand on that!
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Since I got my PST and MK2, I find I rarely play vinyl anymore. I do rip every CD I purchase, so sometimes I stream the files but more often I play the CD/SACDs. Streaming the files is mostly for the convenience for me at times. I guess I am still old school about physical media. However, I would have to admit the sound quality is about the same for me with the MK2.
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All I need to do to remind myself how much of a difference a good cable makes is to temporarily remove the FRR and put AQ MacKenzie back in for a few minutes. All the splendor collapses, and the FRR’s go right back into the system to bring the magic back.
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Edit:
Speaking about cables, I got more improvement out of power cables than other types (don’t need to start a debate, either my ears are more sensitive to PC change, or my system is).
My recent upgrade to a SNA Takshaka PC replacing AQ Dragon HC on MU2 has elevated the performance on streaming to a nirvana to me. I was quite surprised to hear the coloration of Dragon that I did not know existed before. I moved the Dragon to serve LHY SW-10, and it was thriving way better there than with MU2. LHY SW-10 has fiberoptic isolation, so it was surprising I heard quieter background yet again. This just proved so many times that the synergy of cable matching is as important as gear matching in a high-resolution system.
Sorry to OP that we turned another of his posts into an expensive gear and cable chat. But Takshaka is “only” $2.8k and is closer to the street price of a Dragon (not much discount on Takshaka on a regular basis). Most would say to use Dragon on SW-10 is nut, but the SQ elevation is well worth to me too.
Yeap, that is the reason I am drawing a line in the sand on my digital world. 
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OMG - that’s HYSTERICAL. Not only for its audio reference, but I really identify because I’m a recovering alcoholic - almost 20 years. And we addicts know well that when we quit one, we just pick up another. Fortunately my audio addiction hasn’t ruined my life to the degree drinking was. But never say never.
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Congratulations for nearly 20 years!
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Yeah, I get it - different is not always better or worse. Even with my “cheap” ears, when I play vinyl, sometimes I just like THAT particular sound for that particular recording better than digital, sometimes the reverse, sometimes doesn’t matter. I think it has more to do with which brain cells I want to obliterate at that particular time. I remember years ago, before I was as heavily into fidelity as now, I picked up the 2001 CD “Ballads” by Karrin Allyson, which is based on the album of the same name by John Coltrane. I didn’t own a copy of the Coltrane recording and wanted to get it to compare, but really wanted it on vinyl for some reason, and since I hadn’t bought a vinyl LP in many years, actually went to a store that still sold vinyl. I just felt I’d be put in the right mood to do my comparing. Now I don’t even think about it - just order the format I want to obliterate which brain cells.
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Audio addiction ruined this guy’s family:
Google “Ken Fritz” for the Washington Post story entitled, “He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable.”
Thanks. At this point, I’m well past its being difficult, but I’m also aware of how it has been the best decision I ever made. Let’s just say had I stayed on the same path, no way I’d be here having a discussion about CDs and transports 
.
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Not an answer to your original question, but for me sound quality is only one consideration when it comes to streaming vs. physical media. I find that any piece of equipment that even remotely resembles a computer with or without an OS makes me run the other way!
I have a nice Bluesound Node for streaming and I almost never use it. Only exception would be if someone wanted to hear something I don’t have on physical media but might sound excellent enough to hear on the big system.
Otherwise, it’s always LP or CD and lately it’s been mostly LPs just because of the recent addition of the Rega Naia and Degritter cleaning machine. I’ve also discovered (much to my wallet’s lament) the “Better Records” site. These “hot stampers” are killing me!
EDIT: And although I can’t afford Al’s Ethos CD player (very sweet looking BTW) the Jay’s CDT3 Mk3 connected to the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC with an AQ Firebird HDMI cable makes for one very nice CD playback path.
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I struggle with this too. Well, not really “struggle” but I think about it sometimes.
Like many here, I have all my CDs ripped to the server. I play them using Roon via my Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer.
I’ve also copied the files to the A6’s internal drive, and sometimes I play them using that, bypassing Roon.
And sometimes I play the CD’s on my Yamaha CD-S2100 SACD player.
The eversolo and the yamaha each have their own DACs, but I default to sending everything through my Denafrips Pontus II DAC. (I’m just assuming the Pontus is a better DAC than the internal DACs of the source components.)
Anyway, long story long, it all sounds REALLY good, but I can’t tell the difference between them. Maybe I need someone to come over and listen and tell me if I should hear a difference.
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Well that was a surprise.
How in the world did you know that my beloved brother died of ALS in 2001, the same year the Karrin Allyson CD I just mentioned came out? Don’t worry, that was an incredible gift you just gave me. Like me and my older brother, Bruce was big into audio. He and I had an unusually close relationship, a lot of it based in sick humor. The day he called to tell me he had been diagnosed with ALS, I had a feeling it was coming, so I asked myself beforehand, “If it turns out to be ALS, will our sick humor be able to transcend the seriousness of this? How should I respond?” I decided I needed to be serious for once, to be compassionate and understanding. He told me. And I reacted: “Can I have your turntable?” That’s how long I was able to be compassionate and understanding. But come on, it was an Ariston Audio turntable. In all seriousness, our shared humor, and audio, was essential to getting us through the 3.5 year journey.
The man in the video, Ken Fritz, exemplified the typical ALS patient - positive, taking it with the same attitude as my brother: “You play the cards you’re dealt.” He never said, “I’m dying of ALS,” but “I’m living WITH ALS.” That famous film of Lou Gehrig saying, “I’m the luckiest man alive,” Bruce and Ken knew that Lou wasn’t making that up just for the crowd at Yankee Stadium.
I did inherit his turntable when Bruce died. And when I got it set up, I played the last album he had heard on this earth - Chicago Transit Authority. No it wasn’t a $1 million system, but it was remembering a brother worth much more than that.
Thank you.
Pic of my brother in his wheelchair holding his daughter Madison, who now lives in New York City and works for the NY Philharmonic in fundraising.
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Ditto my Jays CDT3 MK3 feeding my Diablo 300 with the internal dac option…A Jorma AES/EBU cable being used as the digital go between… Love it!
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Thanks for the story.
Share your love, people!
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