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Best way to spend my income tax refund

Ok guys, I'm jumping the gun and already pondering the best way to spend my income tax refund. I'm considering 2 totally different options and want to put them up for your opinion.

1. Upgrade McCormack DNA 1 Deluxe to Rev A. I really like this amp and I'm curious to see how far the mods take it. Seems like the general opinion is favorable with this upgrade. How does it compare to a totally different ~$2k (sale of amp plus cost of upgrade) new/used amp?

2. VPI Aries Scout. I admit I'm a digital guy with hundreds of CDs and not a single record. However hearing this turntable made an impression. Was it the Hovland Saphire/Audio Research (SS model not sure which)/Maggie 3.6Qr system that made it sound this good? Would my Musical Fidelity A3cr phono stage do it justice?

Current system, ARC CD1, Musical Fidelity A3cr, McCormack DNA 1 Deluxe, Von Schweikert VR2s, RGPC 400s.

Thanks!
-Dan
dlwask
flemke
596 posts
 
Get the Scout. Better than ant digital I have ever heard.

Tim
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Start an IRA and think about the rest of us poor saps who still have to pay the theives at the IRS more money than they've already stolen from us.
nealhood
199 posts
 
One of the big reasons President Bush worked so hard to reduce the exhorbitant taxes paid by us is so that we would be prompted to save for more for the future in addition to being more fair to us. Our spending habits are already a bit excessive so, investing and saving is my first recommedation. However, if you have managed to put 10% or more of your income into an IRA this year then I guess you deserve to splurge a little bit on your refund. Assuming this is the case then I would heartily recommend the Magnepan 3.6's. A simply outstanding and, most of all, a fun speaker to own. I bet this was the main contributing factor in the Hovland/AR system that floored you. The speaker ususally is.
tweak1
3,679 posts
 
It's time to upgrade your CD-1. Check out Xindak SCD-2
ohlala
1,236 posts
 
I think the amp upgrade may be the way to go. My reasoning is that a TT is quite the continuous investment. TTs are really picky about setup and cleaning, and buying records is an entire hobby itself. You may really enjoy it, but going analog is not the soft option your enquiry implies it is. Think about it and have fun. (I just filed and am "investing" my refund in art :)
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