What to upgrade next?

Oh yes, Speakers, I have been considering upgrading to 3.8s or 3.5s. I have seen where some people prefer the 3.5s to the 3.8s. Any info here would also help.

Thanks, Mike

Thanks for all the feedback. It looks as though some room treatment is the first thing to address. Is there any good looking treatments out there as I do have a wife and my system is in HER livingroom.

Your system looks great.You are ready to take the plunge.Room acoustic treatments.The easy one is the first reflections.Sit in your listening chair,have someone hold a mirror flat to the wall on the right side and left side of your speakers until you see the tweeter in the mirror.Those are your first reflections.They will reflect sound fractions of a second after the sound leaves your speaker.Take a couple of couch cushions and put them on those points on each side wall and you will notice something very different.Do the same to the ceiling.Hold a mirror flat to the ceiling until you see each tweeter in the reflection(there will be two spots on the ceiling unlike the single spot on the side wall)Take a couple of pillows and four drywall screws and screw each pillow to the ceiling and see what you hear(your wife about to cut your stupid thoat).These are your first reflective surfaces.It costed you about an hour and eight drywall screws to see that the acoustic treatment police will soon arrive.Good luck.Patch up that ceiling too!

Remember, a speaker will never reproduce what doesn't get there from the front end, therefore all things being equal speakers are the least important componant in your system. No speaker will have a good spectrum of sound, good imaging or soundstage in a bad room.

Mediocre speakers can sound good in a great room, but great speakers will only sound mediocre in a bad room. Treat the room and you will have a better stereo.

Yes the room treatments and set up are also key, sorry I left that out (stupid me)but in the end the speakers will limit the system sound to whatever they are capable of. The system sould change significantly with Vandy 5As versus all the treatments that I know of. Depth in my system became more real when I used a speaker that was capable of adding lower bass and extened highs. Treatments are a key system concern too.

Happy Listening.

Upgrade the room. It will make more difference than replacing the whole system. Most sonic annoyances are created by the room, not the system. I have found the information available from Rives to be incredible. Check out http://www.rivesaudio.com and see what they have to offer.

Out of all the suggestions so far I would tend to agree with Bidkidz. I myself have went through a number of power
conditioners,cables,power cords,digital upgrades. And while
they have all made nice Improvments in the sound, Changing
or upgrading speakers in the line you already have will
make the biggest difference.

I think Onhwy61 makes a great point.

You seem happy with the sound. And, if you are interested in upgrading, I would ask what area(s) does it lie? From there, we can offer suggestions in terms of pushing your system in the desired direction. It seems as if your source, preamp/power amp, and speakers are on the smooth and warm side, while the cable is on the detailed and fast side. May just balance extremely well, and not need upgrading at all.

I can't argue with addressing the room, it's often the most overlooked link in the chain...

I think you're getting a lot of misleading advice. There is absolutely no reason to replace your cables, nor add fancy power cords or line conditioners. You already have a great system and assuming you've set it up properly, it's sound will not be readily improved without wholesale changes. Changing cables and such may slightly change the sound, but it's unlikely to really improve anything. I have three suggestions. First, consider some professionally designed acoustical room treatments. Dollar for dollar it's the most cost effective money spent. Second, look at getting a high quality rack and speaker stands (Sistrum, Mapleshade, Solid Steel, etc.). Third, replace your CD player with either the Linn Unidisk or Teac/Esoteric DV50. Both players are universal machines that will playback any format which will allow you to run hi-rez SACD and DVD-A digital through your system.

The biggest improvement in your system will come from upgrading your speakers. The cables may add some sound changes but better speakers will open up a new world of sound. Not that I think yours are bad, but look up the line and you will get better bass, mids and high end which to me is the biggest improvement one can obtain.

Happy Listening.

Your speaker cables look like the next step, as everyone says. I like my Ensemble Voiceflux cables for the money, but you can pay more and get better. I agree power conditioning needs a look if you haven't done that already, and also good power cords, especially on the CDP and preamp.

Upgrade or tweak? Are you using a line conditioner, if not you should. You might want to consider a Furutech Rodium outlet, I put one in and heard a 20% improvement right away.
Are your cables laying on the floor? Get them up off the floor for a quick tweak.
My 2 cents worth.
Dave

I agree with the other poster.You"need"better I.C's,and "better" speaker cable.Some of the "new ACTIVE",innerconnects,sound wonderfull.Audioquest,Synergestic Research,Audio Thrills,will make a "huge" improvement in your current set up.They sure did in mine!!! Ron...

would upgrade the speaker cables and Interconnects. What sonic characteristics would you like to improve most? This will help others to recommend specific wires to try to accomplish your goals