@umiami91: But for my speakers and Anthem’s room correction software in my preamplifier, the PS Audio DirectStream Sr. fed ripped, downloaded and streamed files via the Bridge Ethernet connection is THE most significant upgrade in sound quality I have ever made to my system (and I have been piecing this Hi-Fi puzzle together off and on for 30+ years).
There is a cliche often invoked about rediscovering your favorite music when we hobbyists rave about this or that change in our systems. In the case of the DS Sr. (IME) it is not an exaggeration.
Damn! Just when things were getting excited around here…
Truly a bummer on all fronts. Sorry to hear and good luck with dealing with a situation that I would say rivals having teeth pulled in terms of sheer misery.
I honestly believe that the LS50s are the ones hindering the upgrade path. You may not like the result of a top notch dac and amp combo with those ls50s. If the KEF are your companions for a long time, then I would stay at the S300 and SGCD. Dac flavors are as vast as speakers are. I would start very cheap with DACs to see what you discover. But if the KEF are beginning to outdate your ears or reduce the joy of music, I would point to a match that has a generous headroom gap between amp and speaker.
Ls50 + S300 SGCD = yes, dac as you wish. Stay with top notch bookshelves, or efficient floor standing.
Ls50+m700 = no, much better speakers needed, but you can take your time on those, knowing you can take on any and all speakers with your home base.
I had 3 different pairs that pleased my ears more than the ls50. The Denton’s, the SVS Ultras and the R300s. And the Sprout was enough to make them sing. The LS50 hooked to my M700s sounded like an exaggerated expression, it showed the limitation of the speaker. No synergy, waste of the amp.
Hey! Contemplating this purchase (I have The Anthem D2). Was wondering if the ARC software would be the bottleneck. How do you have yours hooked up? Does it blow away the internal DAC of Anthem?
I use an Audiolab M-One with P3ESR, streaming from my desktop computer. The system cost me £2,150 (under $3,000) new, most of which was on the speakers. The Audiolab M-One (50w/8ohms and a very good DAC) is similar to the Sprout 100 and P3ESR are class-leading monitors. Better source and amps are not needed.
@Mcroth: You will want to run the DS Sr into the dedicated two-channel balanced input on your D2. This will give you the option of listening in a “pure-direct” mode (so-to-speak) or adding ARC room correction to the signal after the DS Sr. works its magic, if you wish. And yes, I think it is fair to say that the digital-to-analogue conversion wrought by the DS Sr. is superior to Anthem’s. Grab a DS Sr. direct from PS Audio and you have 30 days to see for yourself. If its not all that and a bag of chips, compared to what you have now, you can send it back for a refund! I don’t think you will though. Let us know what you think if you give it a try.
Cheers.
[PS: I am a huge fan of Anthem Pre/Pro’s and ARC. I really don’t think these products get enough credit and are incredible performers. To me, they seem to fly under the radar of the general enthusiast somehow. And what a huge price/performance bargain if you pick up one on the used market!]