Anticipating next upgrade after B&W 803 D3?

My system has the b&w’s, McIntosh 5 channel amp biwired and a bluesound node 2i and a marantz 5014 avr used as a preamp. i am now seriously exploring the Chord Qutest dac and maybe the m scaler

Speakers? Dude! Your first priority should be a very nice stereo integrated amp (Hegel, Ayre, etc.) or stereo separates to do your speakers some justice and a good DAC ASAP followed by a better streamer. That mid-fi AVR, among other things, is absolutely killing your sound. Preamps matter!!!

Soix is correct. ^^^^

hehehe

soix drops the hammer

op - hegel h190 is worth consideration, or an older h160 or 360 if you will use your current DAC

I would also agree with soix. As is clear from my lack of posts around here I rarely post on any audio sites but I do read them when I am in the process of demoing or acquiring new gear; something I do rarely. But today, I find myself sitting in a shady spot in our backyard with one of our dogs on an incredibly hot day here in southern California, 110° maybe? And I thought I would just chime in to offer my thimbleful of pertinent experience around this subject. I have managed to assemble a satisfying system that gives me a satisfying listening experience in my real life living room with the sorts of flaws one finds in a real life living room. The system is rather modest in some respects, I have a pair of Vandersteen II CE Sigs that I bought from Brooks Berdan about 15 years ago. They have basically been the constant element in the system over the years. The rest of my system consists of a VPI Scout with a Hana SL cart, a 12 or 13 year old Rega Apollo cdp, and a Bluesound Vault2i into a BAT VK 30 pre into a VTL S200 amp. Upgrading to the scout from my Thorens TD 145 that I’ve owned since I was 16 was a significant upgrade. Upgrading to the Apollo from the thrift shop Phillips cdp was an upgrade. Adding the VK 30 in place of some kind of integrated was a major upgrade. But adding the VTL in place of the NAD 216 amp was an !ENORMOUS! upgrade. I bought it used, but it still felt like I paid a breathtaking amount of money for it. A year and a half on do I think it was worth it? You bet! I love that amplifier. Soundstage, depth, articulation, coherence, effortlessness, complete control. My listening sessions are so much fun. And I feel secure knowing that if I do at some point upgrade my speakers, there’s basically no limit to how far I could go realistically go with that amplifier as the sonic foundation. When I added the detail to my system I was shocked that an amplifier could make a difference of such significance. There was nothing subtle about it, as we like to say. So that’s my two cents. I hope the original poster finds it of some use. By the way I think I ended up in this thread because I’m currently demoing a Chord Qutest DAC and I was looking for other impressions of it. I have to say that the Qutest, which I was able to borrow from my dealer for the long weekend, has made another significant sonic improvement to what comes out of the Bluesound box and the Apollo. Fortunately, my wife also agrees with me. In other words I’m going to buy it. Have a great weekend! Best, John

@jkmcc

glad you made your post after lurking for so long... you have an excellent system, i am sure it sounds just wonderful, very musically well rounded from what i know about your various pieces

re the qutest - 3 points:

if u want a broader set of viewpoints, suggest u post in digital section - this question is out of place here in this thread, you won’t get full breadth

i am very familiar w it, it is a lovely sounding unit, exceptionally clear and rhymthic, great imaging. one of the best in the price range - having said this, i would say the chords are in the ’very clear and not romantic’ camp of sound - other competing top dacs are more rounded, fuller in their sound, so it is a matter of system matching - it may well fir perfectly in your system w vtl into vandy's -- both are on the warmer lusher side of neutral

the qutest has several selectable digital filters built in, so the sound can be tailored to some degree, but even on its slowest/mildest filter it will still be on the 'clean and clear' side... you can also add the m-scaler (for $$$) and it takes the smoothness and ease of presentation of the qutest up a couple notches

hope this helps