I appreciate all the replies. Sounds like consensus is there isn’t a substitute for first hand experience. No one has come up with a gear emulator plug in like Pro Tools effects to take your favorite track and digitally alter it to replace your budget consumer receiver with the sound of a top of the line DAC/pre/power amp combo. Just for demo purposes of course. It’s an unrealistic proposition. Damn. I admit I was looking for a shortcut.
“You can’t get what you want, ‘til you know what you want,” is a common theme for me. Maybe when the world is less scary I’ll venture out and hear something that changes everything, puts me on a definite track.
I haven’t been in a hi-fi shop in about 20 years. I guess I’m just not one of those ride the upgrade merry-go-round types - not that there’s anything wrong with that. They hear a lot more different gear than I have and have already learned their preferences. I envy them, but not enough to follow their example. Other than replacing a few CD players that I wore out (Adcom, Rotel, Ah!) I hadn’t done any upgrades until this past year. I now have an almost entirely new system and am planning next steps. I just want to avoid major pitfalls and am always looking for that thing I missed. Gotta watch your blind spots. We all doubt ourselves at times. Some of us more than others.
I still swap in my older gear from time to time to listen for differences. Maybe I’m a hoarder and I’ll end up with a house full of gear because I’ll never actually manage to get rid of anything.
Currently looking at some room treatments. I figure that should help no matter what gear I use, and I can add to it incrementally.
Next I’m going move a few models up the Zu line while I’m still inside the 1yr 100% trade in period for my Omen DW. Very happy with them, but obviously moving further up the line will be more of whatever it is I like, right? I will still want to look at different types of speakers, but I need a reference pair.
Then it will be time for a better pre-amp. I really only got into tubes for the first time this year and have been using a Schiit Saga+ and trying a few tube flavors. I like it better than using my old integrated as a pre. Must be something to that tube magic. I’ve even used it as a tube buffer into my integrated. That was surprisingly successful.
After that I’m not so sure. A better streamer, Class A SS amp, subwoofer(s), more tube rolling, power regenerator, R2R or other types of DAC, and cable upgrades are all possibilities. I may even venture down the vinyl rabbit hole though that will definitely require a demo. That’s far enough out time wise that I’ll need to see what’s out there and try not to be afraid to shop used or change my mind.
