if you had my system and $2,000 budgeted for an upgrade, where would you spend it?
I replaced my tonearm wiring and my speaker binding posts with Cardas ... and the improvement was quite nice. Mark ... I wasn't kidding about the fuses. And I'm not the only one. Check this thread out: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/synergistic-red-fuse |
I suggest you consider adding an isolation transformer. If your incoming AC voltage is not stable, add isolation transformer with voltage regulation. I started with passive power conditioners (Shunyata Hydra Alpha and Furutech e-tp609 x 2) for my main system. Then I have power supply tube failure in my AR Ref 5SE which blew the speakers' mid-bass drivers. It was caused by AC line over voltage (I am in 230V country). I bought Torus AVR30 Wall Mount which does not come with power strips, so I wired the 3 passive power conditioners to AVR30 outputs. Oh man, what a big difference it makes to background noise and resolution. It was a very significant upgrade. Since then, I added Torus RM (isolation only with built-in power strips) to my other systems without any passive power conditioners. The comment by almarg about impedance matching is very correct. Initially the output of my AR Ref 5SE goes into Bryston 10B-SUB (10k impedance) which drives MC452 and JL f113 subs. Too low of impedance cause high frequency roll-off. I eventually went to passive route (semi DIY fully balanced silver slagleformers) and sold the Ref 5SE. |
Yes, Cardas is rolled-off, unbalanced, usually has exaggerated and bloated bass, artificial warmth and not really dynamic. I really like Purist Audio cables. In your place I would try Purist, Stealth and probably better Tara cables. Mid-level, you don't need thousands but you do need hundreds. I would start with the first in chain interconnect and move from there. Power cords too. |
