Well will start by saying this is my point of view.....
After reading many peoples comments about cables , wiring etc etc decided while reworking my system would give some a try once again .
First will start by saying i'm not like alot of members here that change their stuff faster then change thier socks .
For example the stand that houses the stereo I found the material bill is from 1985 , still using it although not very modern lookin....
The last couple years after a non change for 10 years has meant a new processor Anthem AVM-20 , new center Revel C-30 , Sub Revel B15 Behringer DEQ , 2 new amps Bryston 4bsst and 9bsst , rewire to all balanced inputs / outputs rewire a/c .
Start with the Balanced cables used Canare star quad DIY with Neutric gold XLRs , how much differance very slight maybe a little more s/n but only small amount , frequency wise perhaps no differance .
A/C , went all out put in 2 dedicated runs with 12 Gauge wire hospital grade Hubbells . This was great deal of work crawling under house and running wires (sore next day ) .
Also made new cords from amp to wall Marinco and 10 Gauge mil spec silver plated copper wire , shielded dirrectional and covered over 3/4 inch diameter that made ends hard to use had to dremill out to fit .
Now this made slight differance not in sound so much as used to have interferance when turned on quartz lights a clunk now gone so perhaps power is little more stable , I think biggest differance is the ends fit very tightly .
Also biwired the speakers (Energy Veratas 2.8s ) using old ofc 12 Gauge and 10 gauge mil spec silver plated wire , treated everything with progold too . If this made differance it is also very slight , not so easy to a-b dirrectally .
Anthem very good processor , do not want just a stereo system for music want home theatre as well . This made very noticable differance , hard to explain but more detail in mids and highs and more music from darkness .
Revel Center C30, always center is hard to get right this one is good better then all tried , was improved alot when got 9b into system .
Mostly more natural vocals most noticable lower mids better .
Revel B15 sub . This one took awhile to find the right one , perhaps the hardest decision wanted sub sound good on music but can overkill on movies . My old passive jbl bx380 sounded better on music then the regular Paradigms etc . The Velodyne was great but was just not enough over kill for movies . This one does it all at a cost of fairly big bucks but overall one of the best if not the best upgrade sound wise .
The Behringer DEQ many people do not believe in Eqs , this one is very good and fixes room glitch quite well , now that have will keep in system , this is worth the money for education purpose alone .
Bryston 4bsst and 9bsst , very fine amps , very quiet very good from top to bottom 4bsst is better bargain for perfomance , both will likily stay in system for long time if never replace is fine with me .
Still looking for Cd player , however with using Anthem as DAC they sound so far pretty much the same so no clear way to upgrade for me .
Put Denon tt back in system sad to say cd sounds much better , but depends on music somewhat I listen to alot older Rock and was not so well recorded and the remastered cds are much better to me .
Cds One upgrade not so much money all the remasters are great so far , lean towards Mfsls but there are alot of good ones .
My old Energy 2.8s still do well compared to modern counterparts as well as other brands , perhaps just used to the sound they produce or maybe they just got it right with these .
Quite often I listen to music at around 90 -95 dbs and these new little driver bookself speakers just do not work ( for me ).
I also like the speed and imaging from dome mids , they just work for me . Overall very happy with the system and sound and should not give any troubles for years.
The bottom line as this tread started , the Brystons were an excellent upgrade.
Anyways this is my experiances latily , sorry about typos ...
Couple Pictures...
[img]http://oberon.ark.com/~bngserv/img/StereoFront.jpg[/img]
[img]http://oberon.ark.com/~bngserv/img/StereoBack.jpg[/img]
