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  3. 131725-5376

DAC upgrade or Amplifier

Which has more influence over the soundstage - the DAC or the amp? My sound stage is high and wide, but recordings sound 3 dimensional only rarely. My equipment is at best mid fi - Adcom 5500 amp and Cambridge audio DAC magic. Listening primarily to Tidal at their highest level available.  The rest of the system if Adcom Preamp 750 (the Nelson Pass design), Tyler Acoustic speakers, tributary cables throughout. Any advice or suggestions for upgrades for improving the "depth" of the soundstage is appreciated (let's say that an upgrade for less than $1500 is in the budget, and I'm comfortable buying used from reputable sources). Thanks!

philtangerine
philtangerine OP
29 posts
 
Thank you Steve N.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Looking at the internal architecture, the Sony HAP-Z1ES is a significant/huge upgrade from your Cambridge DAC Magic.  However at $1259 used / $2k new, it uses up pretty much your entire upgrade budget.  It leaves nothing left (in your budget) for amplifier upgrade.  The assumption is that the Sony does use a digital volume (which means you can connect direct to an amp).  The digital volumes works by converting the 16/24 bit audio data to 32 bit and then reduce the bit height of the waveform before it hits the DAC chip.  There is controversy on whether a true analog preamp is better than this or not.  Personally, I think I would rather have full bit resolution at the DAC/output stages and run it through a true analog resistor-ladder volume control.  A high end passive preamp could be a solution (like the Khozmo or even some others that have a capacitor/transformer output), but passives do have their own challenges as well.

I have not heard any preamp less than about $10K that can do a decent job.

Steve's quote may be absolutely true from his point of view, but I caution the need to spend $10K plus on a preamp because everything is relative.  You can definitely get a better preamp with more transparency/resolution, but everything is relative to what you can actually work with (both budget and practicality).

audioengr
3,282 posts
 

Auxinput is correct, my relative comparison is at a highly rarified level.  I can easily hear the difference between and AIFF file and a wav file in my system.

It's the active preamp that is the bain of most audio systems.  Get rid of it or replace with transformer-passive linestage is my recommendation.

The Sony can be bought used on Audiogon for about $1K.  Make them offers.  This will be such a massive upgrade to what you have now that you will not believe your ears.  IF you have decent speakers, it will sound wonderful.  Upgrade your amps later after you save up.  Get some good used amps, even tubes if your speakers are efficient enough.  An old Scott amp with EL-84 tubes will sound amazing.  If you want to stay with SS, then try some digital amps, like Nuforce, Merrill or cherryamp.com.  Try to get used on audiogon first.


Steve N.

Empirical Audio

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