Next upgrade?


Dear all,

In the pursue of the best possible sound - given a limited budget! - I am constantly thinking about the next upgrade (or mod) to my system. I’m sure I am not alone...

Right now I have the following :

- Monitor Audio Golden Reference 60 Speakers

- Primaluna Dialogue Premium Integrated Amp

- Cambridge Audio CXC CD Transport

- Border Patrol SE-i DAC

I like the system a lot, but I wonder what can I do next (excluding cables or power supply). What would be the place where I can get the most improvement from an (second hand) upgrade?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions!

Fab

sounasega

@sounasega 

Your amp is your strongest component so no need to change.  Your transport is good enough for your current level and for a reasonable DAC upgrade so don't need to replace yet.

So it's either speaker upgrade or DAC upgrade.  Monitor Audio Silver line seems to be on sale nowadays.  

You have a nice system. I've never heard that combination, but it looks solid to me. If you like the sound your getting, but want an improvement in Sound Quality, I agree that room treatment and very tight corrections in speaker placement would be time and money well spent.

It seems that you only have CD as a source. Are you good with that? If you are interested id discovering new/different music, I would recommend you invest in some type of streamer and a high-res streaming service. I discover new/different music almost daily via streaming. My favorite streaming service, for content and a great user interface, is Spotify. However, it is not yet high-def. The SQ is not bad, but I'm guessing Qobuz is significantly better. I currently have a one year trial of Tidal, but I won't be renewing it.

If you are all digital (CD), a streamer, connected to your DAC, would provide you a nearly limitless catalog of music and sound about the same as CDs played via your transport and DAC.

I have stock 12au7 for the pre and genalex kt77 on the power stage. 
I alternate them with the stock el34, not much difference