need advise, which is the weakest link in my audio chain


Hi all, i am new here and this is my first post.

need some opinion and advise, which gear do you think is the weakest link that i should improve/change.

i wish to have sweet sound and detail but not fatiguing

my experience on current setup not really meet my preference  :-

- a bit forward sound 

- sometime may a little dry/harsh sounding when source recording is poor

- lack of sweet top end

pre amp - bryston bp6

power amp - lexicon nt-212 (same as bryston 3bst)

speaker - spendor sp1 

cd player - marantz cd6006

dac - rega dac

tuner - yamaha t1 & sony st-sa5es

sorry for my poor english.

thank you.

128x128nagasakti70

Few possibilities to improve…

1. Room acoustics - any room treatments? How big is the room? What does the speaker placement look like - distance from walls, distance between speakers, toe in?

2. Power - do you use a power conditioner?

3. Do the speakers produce enough bass in this room to balance out the high frequencies? If not, consider a sub or a change to floor standing full range speakers. 
4. cables - what speaker cables and interconnects are you using? 

I had the BP6 as well and it’s a very neutral preamp but when paired with a Bryston 2B SST I found what you’re finding in that it was a little thin sounding.  But when I paired the BP6 with my McCormack DNA-0.5 RevA amp it was fuller and more natural sounding and much more balanced IMHO.  I’d recommend taking a look at this DNA-225 that’s a good value and should flesh things out very nicely.  You could also look at your DAC as upgrading to one of the newer R2R DACs might be more to your sonic preferences.  Hope this helps, and best of luck.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649982529-mccormack-dna-225-power-amplifier-works-perfectly/

thank you for your reply sir.

1. room acoustics 

- 2'x4' absorption panel at front wall (behind of each speaker)

- 2'x4' diffuser of each side wall

- ceiling corner bass trap

- some acoustic panel at rear wall

- room size is rather small .. 10'x10'

- speaker pull out 1.5' from front wall and side wall, slight toe in

 

2. no power conditioner

 

3. bass is enough without sub

i have heco sub, but seldom use coz some song low freq may overblown in my small room

 

4. cables

- speaker cable use cardas quadlink 5c

- pre to power - interconnect nordost flatline black knight

- cd player to preamp - use chord clearway

- rega dac idling not in use 

...which is the weakest link in my audio chain?

For me (and probably many others) - it’s my ears. 😁

I second the notion of checking your room’s acoustics first, as your setup appears to be very capable. I had solved a confusing "smeariness" on the staging from my system that I attributed to the TVs screen being slightly skew to the listening position and not acoustically treated (I ended up throwing a blanket over it - helped immensely).

Bryston, from my experience, sometimes borders on the threadbare, but that Rega of yours should be able to fill out some of the thinness.

Yep - look at your room acoustics first.

Hi soix..

glad to hear you have bp6 as well, yes it does very neutral and silent preamp

in my country (Malaysia) seems almost non exist to find the McCormack amp

bp6 with 3bst i found a bit bright

for the dac, yes the rega i think time to be replaced

cause it did not give me improvement when marantz cdp connected to rega dac