Hi, What in your experience is needed in this situation? Your help please. Cables, speakers or streamer upgrade?
I’m pretty happy with my setup. It is balanced now. But now I’m in the position of a luxury problem. My set plays pretty nice. I have good sense of depth, with and hight. Tonal balance is really to my liking, with realism, texture and good color. I love a warm and engaging sound, which I have now. The only thing I would like more is that the music plays more open and effortlessly, with more flow and separation. With more greatness and 3D soundstage.
1st I’m doubting about new speakers, it almost always depends on the room if they can sound the best. And there is always a difference and shift in tonal balance / warmth which I fear a bit. I have 5k speakers now and want to upgrade to 8k speakers. (I’m not naming brands because of bias :))
2nd I’m doubting about a new Auralic G2.2 streamer which is double the price of my current Auralic G1 streamer. But a DAC seems to make a lot of improvements in the areas I’m looking for without changing the sound to much. Also there is a 5 year difference between them.
3rd I know what cables can do. And I treat them as a component. I can upgrade the cord to my streamer with a AQ Hurricane Source, which has a Blizzard now. Also buy another Blizzard. So the remaining cables can trickle down to my other components. So 2x Blizzard on my LPS instead of Monsoon and 2x Monsoon instead of NRG-Z3 on my 2 subs. Valve amp and Niagara 3000 already have a Hurricane cord.
Having speakers for a home audition is the hardest of the 3.
The speakers may not do these provided that you have good quality speakers. In my experience, sources make the most improvement in these areas. A good streamer with DAC will definitely improve more. Cables will help for sure. In terms of the level of improvement on above mentioned the order from most to least, in my system, is power cord, interconnect, then speaker cable.
Thank you! My experience is the same with cables in that order. All my powercords are AQ. Interconnects, Ethernet and speakercables I use AudioMica Excellence.
I wonder if $8,000 speakers will really ‘best’ $5,000 speakers? You don’t mention what you have so it would be hard to make recommendations…. Same with cables, is just the next step up really going to make that much difference? Only your ears will tell. Maybe there is better synergy with another brand, that could be an upgrade worth spending for.
If you have $8k to spend on an upgrade, perhaps a DAC/streamer would be where to spend your money.
Thank you! I’m wondering the same. I have a small room and not a real muscular Tube amp so speaker options are limited. The speakers I’m doubting with are Borresen X2’s or Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo 2’s. My current speakers are Spendor A7’s. It’s not that I have 8k to spend but with selling the item I would like to upgrade I come close to that number.
It always amazes me how much impact the powercable made in my system with each upgrade and to each component. That’s why I know there is still much room for improvement in that area. I already upgraded my fuses and have a powerconditioner.
Given your constraints, I’d look at cables. I am not familiar with your chosen line of power cables, but if they’re all mid-level or above, I’d focus on the ethernet feed to your streamer - though I’d probably do the switch first, then consider your cables.
Right now, I’m liking the Switch-X from Dejitterit.com. You can buy through Bill at GTT Audio. Below is a link, but I don’t believe the price includes the SFP modules for the switch unit. Basically you’re getting a highly optimized switch (you can read at the link), and putting your streamer and any controlling pad (iPad? Phone?) on a separate network from your other home devices.
I don’t yet have one of these, but the mad genius behind it did an AppleTV X that he worked his magic on, and that thing is incredible. I have both it and a Kaleidescape system, and I almost never use the Kaleidescape.
My personal rule of thumb/standard advice is to buy the absolutely best speakers you can afford and stretch your budget a bit to acquire them.
Nothing short of the room will impact the overall performance of your system more than the speakers.
That is my opinion, for what its worth.
That said, if you have a particular itch, scratch it. Buy what you WANT. This is supposed to be fun so indulge yourself.
All that said, you can do so much more to impact your system if you can get comfortable with buying yesterday’s latest and greatest on the used market.
Most of my kit is second hand. If price IS an object, then buy used.
This forum is one great place to get great gear at a great price.
Hello, which country do you live in? Borresen X2 or Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo sound like Europe. Speakers make a big difference. The sound you have now could change dramatically, for better or for worse. By bad I mean that a different amplifier or a cable replacement might be necessary. If you have the opportunity to test listen to the new speakers at home, that would be an option. Cables make a difference, as you know. The Audioquest Hurricane has a pleasant, warm tone, but doesn’t offer the highest resolution, widest soundstage, or openness. But warmth with pleasant voices with a fairly good definition. I have tried almost all of the Audioquest power cables. A Dragon would offer openness compared to the Hurricane. The new, unbraided version sounds more open. But even something like a Furutech DPS 4.1 would be more detailed, with more spatial information and a wider soundstage. You should hear from your own system whether replacing the components offers you more.
As already mentioned, an Ethernet cable or switch in front of the streamer makes a difference. I also throw a filter like Muon Pro or ENO2 into the mix. It is best to test the cables or components in the system yourself.
Greetings, Andreas
Another idea from me: If you are satisfied with your speakers and components, one option would be to equip the crossover of your speakers with higher quality components. For example with new capacitors and/or better resistors. You wouldn’t believe what a good high frequency capacitor can do for the entire sound down to the low frequency range. It could be an affordable solution that offers the most benefit.
The capacitors on the Spendor speakers appear to be fairly simple types. Maybe a better tweeter driver capacitor to start with. The cement resistors could also be swapped for Mundorf Supreme. The even better resistor would be the Ultra, which is mounted with a heat sink. You could also use a 0.01 µF Duelund JDM silver or copper-tin bypass capacitor in parallel with the existing tweeter capacitor. The JDM Silver provides a smooth, open tone with more detail. If you want to do it right and go all out, build a completely new crossover with better inductors, capacitors and resistors.
Here are the listening impressions of some power cables. The audio quest Hurricane is also mentioned here.
My experience is that most tweaks like fuses, footers, etc and cables that might make a satisfying improvement, soon fade into a state of “normal”. And after some time has passed, if you want to revisit the effect of that thing, you have to put the original thing back in to hear the difference.
Not so with speakers. Each time I upgraded speakers, the personality of the new speakers has never faded into the background of the system sound.
Plus one on what @scotte1 said above.
+4 to all. After the dust settles on all system components, it is the largest one, the room, that has the greatest impact, good and bad. Speakers certainly follow that hierarchy.
But truth be told, it’s the smallest item that can put me in the Land of Oz or in the grasp of flying monkeys. The source. The quality of the cd, record,
or drive can be the difference in total engagement or total frustration.
I wish I could singularly focus on the music on hand and not on the quality of the recording. I can not.
When a room, system and recording are good enough to erase themselves and just the music enfolds, that is where to be.
Unfortunately, those moments are as often as when
Sisyphus mocks the Gods when his rock rolls back down the hill. The audiophile’s curse.
Speakers make the biggest difference. Don’t know what speakers you’re currently using but I can highly recommend Alta Audio if you’re looking for an amazingly open effortless and 3D presentation. And they’re currently running an up to 40% off sale on B stock speakers with minor blemishes.
I’m going to try to audition the better Altair G2.2 streamer first. See what’s it does to my current speakers. If it will make the improvements I’m searching for, and doesn’t change the tonal balance that much, just make the sound more rich, luscious, effortless, controlled and real, im done. As my plan is also to try the better AQ powercords if this upgrade is in the same league as is a new streamer, I’m off cheaper. And van always do this later on, on the new streamer. I know the powercord on my current G1 streamers is the bottleneck right now.
That for me also is the joy and pleasure of this hobby. Trying things out and to see which differences they make and in what extent.
After I’ve done those comparisons, I’m auditioning the speakers I layed my eyes on and hope I can get them at home for 1 on 1 comparison on my own gear and in my room. I just don’t want to change my Valve amplifier yet for years to come.
My fear of new speakers is that I need to change or retune my set-up all over again and open up the rabbit hole again and start from scratch. So eventually I need to drop a larger bag of cash to get it right
Trying out components and cables in your own system is the safest option. You didn’t answer the question about where you live. It’s easier to give recommendations when you know what’s possible in your country. Also the possibility that members live nearby and could borrow something or help. A tweeter capacitor or a small bypass capacitor makes a significant difference. It’s like a new, better speaker. For me, the crossover made more difference than cables or a fuse. I had read that your treble range sounded a bit too peaky after you added the SR Pink fuses. Is that still the case? Or is the treble range better now? I think if you have the opportunity to upgrade your crossovers a bit, you would have a higher cost-benefit advantage than with other cables. Feet, like the Stack Audio AUVA for the speakers, also make a difference. The placement of the components also has an influence on the sound. For example, if you live in Germany and want high-quality speakers, you should definitely stop by Speaker heaven in Duisburg. There are many ways to squeeze a little more out of a system. Greetings Andreas
