the cart or the horse?


I currently own a Parasound ZAMP, Denon PRA-1500 preamp, and Omega 7's speakers. I stream through a Bluesound Node 2i.  All this resides in a home office of approx 15x10. 

I am not happy with the sound and do not know which component to attack first. There is a lack of presence and body and the sound is well.......boring. I listen to jazz at low volumes and would like your opinion on what to work on first. 

Replace amp,preamp, or speakers? The cart or the horse? My budget is very modest but am willing to go step by step. 

All my best,

Andy

wavendon

@reubent

Good posts. @wavendon has gotten numerous worthy suggestions on this thread. I don’t have a good feel or sense as to how committed he may be to getting maximum sound quality his budget would allow. Earlier atmasphere mentioned the Leben 300 integrated tube push pull amplifier which uses the el 84 output tubes.

A bit over the stated budget but an excellent recommendation. I had previously recommended the Luxman SQ N150 which is also another high quality el 84 push pull Japanese tube integrated amplifier. Similar to the Leben but a little less expensive. Either would allow the Omegas to sing at a very high level.

I mentioned the Coincident Dynamo MK III which is a bit different. SEP class A with a triode wired el 34 with zero NFB circuit. Priced under 2,000.00. All three amplifiers are from highly regarded manufacturers and will employ very high quality parts, output transformers and power supplies. This is what the higher cost gets you. I’d shoot for the quality proposition.

If the OP really wants to go for it with his very fine Omegas then these higher caliber tube integrated amplifiers are the way to get there. All of the body, presence instrumental tone (Acoustic dominant jazz instruments) dynamics and transparency one could want at or near his stated budget. That 15’x10’ room would transform into a really nice jazz venue like environment. It would sound gorgeous.

Charles

 

While I have not listened to this amp I bet it would provide wonderful synergy w the RS7 drivers. I have tried many amps w my Omega RS5 and the most engaging and full bodied are zero feedback low powered SET. On occasion, I run a little LTA MZ2 with it's one watt and it's rather spectacular. 

 

https://www.erhard-audio.com/Ray.html

@jmolsberg 

have tried many amps w my Omega RS5 and the most engaging and full bodied are zero feedback low powered SET

I see that the amplifier in your link utilize the Lundahl output transformers, high quality for certain.  This the point I was making in my previous post.  You'll get more in the long term with these more expensive but higher quality tube amplifiers.  The quality of the output transformer and power supply literally make or break these types of lower power tube amplifiers. 

Charles 

Upgrade your amp: https://www.underwoodhifi.com/products/lsa-amplifiers The LSA Warp One has gotten excellent reviews, and there’s one FS on Agon for a silly cheap price or the sweet tube amp.  ALSO, Underwood HiFi sells the Audio GD dac pre/headphone https://www.underwoodhifi.com/products/audio-gd

R28 (2022 version) Balanced remote preamp with resistor ladder DAC & 9.5wpc headphone amp
$1499.00

 

could not agree more mr. charles. the higher quality the amp the better the omega will shine. there is certain delicate balance finding synergy with any single driver speaker but when it's achieved you are in for a real treat!