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Rate my system and chose the next upgrade

Good evening,

I'm looking to get my system to the "next" level.  Before you ask, what is "lacking", I can not pinpoint anything.  Over all, seems to sound "pretty good" to me.  I've been back to vinyl, buying nicer copies and cleaning well with a musichall machine.  Most of my time is spent utilizing a quick CD or SACD and Hi-Rez digital with Audirvana but really enjoy the vinyl experience.  I would utilize more vinyl but usually it's more time consuming.

Why am I upgrading?  I feel I may be missing out on improvement of sound somehow, therefore "upgrading" must be the correct answer right?  Here's my system.  What would you start with to upgrade?  My typical upgrade budgets are about $3k at a time.  I'll list the approximate retail value (new)

Yamaha A-s2000 integrated- $3000?
Yamaha A-s2100 SACD/CD- $3000?
Teac UD-501 DAC with DSD capability - $850
Clear Audio Performance DC Turntable- $3500 with clarify tonearm
Clear Audio Balance Phono stage- $1000
Sound Smith Cart- can't remember which but a $1200 unit
Martin Logan motion 40XT's- $2000/pair
Martin Logan small sub woofer-$500?

Go!



dhpeck
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,235 posts
 
I’ve heard a Magico S1 driven by VAC Sigma 160 integrated (both original versions), sounding really really dang good in a medium-ish room. Each of those are doable in the $5K-ish used range; not saying that would for sure work in your room, but in your shoes I’d be tempted to try. Could work in a near/mid-field arrangement. Some bronze S1’s just came up FS here (no affiliation), which is what reminded me of that nice system.

As for the Clarify arm -- yeah I’ve seen that arm easily popped out of the groove by footfalls and even energy from nearby big speakers (in the same room as the S1 / VAC system). Much more so than other arms, though possibly setup related. The Magnify arm did great, though, and I like that arm. But if you don’t have obvious problems in your setup you should be OK there.
auxinput
2,921 posts
 

I was going to point out that Teac DAC, but somebody already did.  I will definitely agree that Teac DAC has got to go.  The Yamaha SACD player will do the same thing as the Teac DAC for your hi-res music.  Just use the digital inputs on the back of the SACD player (USB / COAX / Toslink) to use it as a DAC.  It will play anything up to 24/192, and I think it will play DSD if used through the USB input.

If you look at the mini-dsp, I highly recommend you get an external linear power supply.  At your level, the switching power supply "wall wart" that comes with it will definitely sacrifice sound quality.  You could also look at the DSpeaker DSP module if you want, but it's definitely a lot more expensive.  Once again, recommend an external linear power supply for that as well.

Speakers are a hard thing and since I don't have experience with the Martin Logans, I will let others advise.

dhpeck's avatar
dhpeck OP
59 posts
 
I don't the the Yamaha will accommodate DSD but I will double check.  I was thinking about a DAC upgrade along the lines of SLP or Wyred4Sound.
dhpeck's avatar
dhpeck OP
59 posts
 
Gents, I just disconnected the Teac 501 and am using the Yammy CD-s2100 for my digital.  If I notice anything at all, The Yammy may be doing a better job as a DAC than the Teac.  I wonder what price point would improve the Yammy DAC in a stand alone.
auxinput
2,921 posts
 
The Yamaha CD-S2100 is going to be really hard to beat.  You'll probably have to spend $5,000-6,000 on a DAC at this point.  Or maybe something like LKS MH-DA004?  Bricasti M1?  PS Audio DirectStream?
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