I have the Sprout100 driving a pair of Dali Rubicon 2 speakers. It really sounds fantastic but I was wondering if an upgrade would sound that much better? I was thinking about the S300 amp and the Gain Cell preamplifier, how much would that improve the already great sound I am getting.
Yes big in improvements in the quality of soundstage from the
dimensionality, image separation, focus, clarity (not brightness)
from the brute power of a musical fff and all the voicings therein to
the minutest of musical subtleties and expressions.
Knowing the quality of PS Audio gear…you gain a lot more going uptown. Gives your speakers the goods to really sing !!
My two cents on your specific question would be “no” or at least “not necessarily or proportionally”. It would be different. Sprout 100 is an amazing piece for the money.
As others have eluded to, once you get the upgrade bug it is hard to stop.
Will a SGCD and S300 get you better dynamics? yes
Will a SGCD and M700 get better soundstaging, cleaner midrange and even more dynamics? yes
Would a BHK Pre with the M700’s sound much smoother and more open than SGCD/M700? yes
Would a BHK Pre and M1200 sound even better than BHK/M700? yes
Would a BHK Pre and BHK 250 poweramp sound even more open than the BHK/M1200? yes
Would a BHK Pre and BHK 300…? yes
Would one really need much more expensive speakers to go along with upgraded pre/power amps? yes
Is the sprout integrated nice and compact and also great-sounding? yes
Would adding a powered subwoofer turn your current system into a full-range system and potentially be the smartest move? yes
As true as ADP’s observations may be - let me go at it from a “keep the Sprout” perspective.
Will the Sprout100 sound better with better speakers? Very Likely yeah - for less money than a lot of other options.
Either with your current speakers or better ones, add a sub. Again - bang for the buck.
Add a TT, if you swing that way.
These, and other options don’t require going down the Linear Upgrade Rabbit Hole so much.
I and others I know personally have used it with speakers costing up to and including $10x the price of the Sprout, and with speaker cables costing 3-4x, with great results. Will you get better results with other/better/more synergistic combinations? Prolly. Just saying that you could do worse than to explore or exhaust some of the cheaper avenues.
Or keep your current setup for now, research and save up for an entirely new system with components of commensurate higher quality, and use your current setup at that point as a complete secondary system. That way you sorta keep like-level components together - best bang for buck across multiple systems because any system is only as good as its weakest link.
Suffice it to say, you are standing at the bottom of the mountain, grasshopper. Lots of improvement to be had, but it is always great to be extremely happy with current system. Enjoy the music. As many have said audio is a game of diminishing returns – need to spend increasingly higher amounts to gain increasingly diminishing results. (increasingly diminishing…ah, that works)
I wanna hear that. At last fall’s RMAF, Zu’s room (equally huge, although modestly populated gear-wise) was next door to a bunch of Heavyweight/Costly makers/setups. It was a relief.