My latest upgrade

Sounds like you made a great choice Steve. Natalie, I agree, the source is ultimately the most important part of the equation, but exceptional sound requires that a number of elements be optimized. The suggestions I made are applicable regardless of which source is chosen. The NAD 514 was a good choice simply because it is a really good performer at a very low price, allowing other beneficial systems components to be purchased within the given budget. I am fully pursuaded, from personal experience, that a $1,000 spent as I have suggested would yield superior results to spending the entire budget on the CDP.

I got the Ah! Njoe Tjoeb in yesterday and I have to say already I'm very happy. I was a little worried that all the positive feedback for Kevin at Upscale Audio was bogus feeds from friends of Kevin. I can happily report that that's not the case. I've been extremely pleased. He threw in an extra set of Rocket Logo tubes I'm playing with them right now. I haven't tried out the stock Phillips tubes, only because I heard that they were not the smoothest sound.

I can say that out of the box this CDR sounds great! Really smoothed out the sound in my room and took away the harshness and brightness. I still have some room tweaks to do but this source upgrade has made a HUGE difference.

Thanks again to all!

Steve

Steve, I'm glad to hear the Ah! unit turned out to be a good choice. It's a great feeling when things come together. I'd encourage you to try some roller bearings underneath the player sometime. Perhaps Kevin Deal has tried this and could let you know what to expect.