That Transformational piece of Gear We All Wish For

By the way, I initially had a VK-33 and found it to be very good.  I then had it upgraded to the VK-33SE and there was a marked improvement in all the areas we have mentioned already.  The VK-80 is a direct replacement for the VK-33SE and by utilizing the new capacitors I would imagine that it outperforms the VK-33SE.  When I upgraded from the VK-33SE to the VK-90 I was rather astonished by how much more space between instruments and depth of soundstage was rendered.  Bass is more visceral, but certainly not overdone or bloated.  Just more realistic. 

I would have to say, over the past few years I have found that a top-flight preamp is definitely a transformational component to a great high-fidelity music system. 

Mammothguy:  what do you use for amplification\?  i currently use a Coda 16 which i really like,  but in 2025 i really hope to try out a BAT REX 300.

I am now a true BAT MAN

@desktopguy

Discovering NOS DACS years ago was a big moment for me as well, and I can't imagine going back.

If it were possible, which it isn’t, the biggest improvement for me would be to build a perfect listening room. That’s by far my biggest challenge. My equipment is great. The room is not. It’s not horrible but it could be so much better. I know it’s limiting my system a lot. 

Seriously considered a balanced audio pre amplifier but it does come with a lot of tubes may not be the greatest thing for a home theater system to be used with bypass. However it is an impressive amplifier. I went with a Conrad Johnson gat2 

The power plant you have is something I considered too but my electric supply is not a problem and would wonder how much of an improvement something like that would make if you really don’t have a lot of problems with noisy electricity source, but I do have a power conditioner from transparent that I use.