Weak Link in chain as I upgrade from mid-fi?

Thanks much everyone for the feedback. Definitely pairing amp upgrade with whatever speaker upgrade (which I HOPE would be Olympica Nova 3 but maybe next would be either sonetto V or ON 1), and DAC is something I wrote off as like...’sure, maybe...eventually’ before this thread.

I want to try Yggdrasil and various Denafrips (Venus 2/ Terminator 2...maybe Pontus 2?) but the lack of ability to hear either of those in a shop/nearby makes it scary to clunk that much down without ability to trial. The Denafrips T2, and T+ get SUCH love Id love to eventually have one but in service of being able to hear what’s at my local shops, any thoughts on these brands/models as ’other’ high end ones? I know the qutest is a crowdpleaser but also maybe not endgame for something like Olympica novas? I can test it at least with my sonettos. I’ve also heard Ayre anything is really great, and their amps work well with Sonus Faber...which is promising as a prospect to have good synergy down the line when I up my amp. Luxman ive heard from my shop (that sells them so...grain of salt?) has great dacs, and if I ended up with Luxman amp that could also be synergy.

Luxman Da-250
Chord Qutest
Ayre QX-8
Ayre Codex
Moon 280D

Not that I can hear Yggdrasil in a shop, but how is that one as a "great" dac. I don't need like...DCS Lina full stack for 30k...but is it 'somewhat close-ish' to idk..Dena Venus II? Obviously one is chip another is R2R but the Schiit I see now has some upgrade options to give it a different balance in sound.

As a (characteristically for me) long aside, Story time:
Coming from headphone world one of the first big you tubers I watched was Zeos...who was the person that turned me onto the Hivi 3.1 speaker kit. Man did I LABOR over making those look as luxury as possible. Automotive glossy finish with Porsche flake black paint, painstakingly bevelled corners, upgraded caps in the x-over, and I was ’blown away’...for a few days.

Something happened after about a week. Nothing new occurring so much as I knew I had to be honest with myself about a deep, dark truth... I could practically pinpoint frequencies moving from driver to driver...was so disappointing to admit to myself that no, these are not satisfactory. The crossovers were complete garbage, the synergy of drivers was bleh, the aesthetics of the speaker front was so blunt and utilitarian compared to my poorly matched finish I poured over.All this to say it was a money pit (relatively, for that kit haha) at the beginning of this loudspeaker journey...BUT in retrospect it Tought me SO much:

- 3 ways are complex and you’d better get one with an artfully done crossover.
- The speed of ribbons sound nice but quality soft dome tweeter solutions have all the detail I could ever want.
- Forward presentation can be exhausting (this obviously can exist with headphones but it feels like a different kind of thing in a way to me)
- Care about every point in the chain, ESPECIALLY terminations and connections in some cases.
- While it hurt to sink so much money into quality ’finishing’ materials for those speakers, forcing myself to really try to love them really taught me to love the craft and taste great companies put into theirs.

Excited to keep going and Thanks for the engagement and advice all!

At your level you need to sell it all…not upgrade this or that.

You will need a real DAC like a Lampizator or Esoteric or MSB.

Then save up 20-50k for speakers. I would hear a pair of YG acoustics Carmel 2 or go up to a Magico A5.

Your amp will be a Pilium integrated, their small one is only 30k and it is fantastic. 

The weak links as I see them—and this is relatively, as you have a decent system-are:

1) The lack of low end extension with your speakers.  As you increase the bottom end you will start hearing things that you had no idea were there previously, low end information that fill out the soundstage..  I can’t address which sub is “best” for SF but REL subs are very musical.  I would check their lineup.

2). I am not a fan of Arcam house sound.  To me it is slick and soulless, kind of cool.  I would ditch it for another integrated minus the DAC.  I would then opt for the best DAC the budget (did you ever specify one?) will allow, as it is the heart of a digital system.

  I am not crazy about the transport you have, but the other two issues take priority.

Xander,

You should consider another path  no one has mentioned yet, which is the array integrated or partially integrated systems. I am talking about the KEF integrated speakers such as LSX for the new LS 60. There is also highly acclaimed  Kii three system and an array of powered monitors out there such as the Genelec monitors. There are lots of good arguments about why these systems offer synergy not possible with separate boxes. Some reviewers that I respect have suggested that if their business was not reviewing individual pieces of equipment they would be very happy with an integrated system so they could stop focusing on Equipment and just enjoy the music. Integrated systems also are a big plus in small listening area because of the obvious space-saving. The last thing I will mention that you might want to be on the lookout for quality digital signal processing that can be added into your system. It helps compensate for the room and can make a bigger difference then the marginal upgrades in things.

Those speakers are very nice, but BOOKSHELF, inefficient and frequency limited.

The most improvement you can make is to replace them with full range. I prefer no vents, if vented front facing like your existing ones are.

Efficient, so you can drive them with lower wattage, lets you use smaller amp which saves money, less heat, more placement options, especially if remote sensor involved.

IF you try subs, agree with soix, TWO, a stereo pair, front facing, adjacent to your mains. Bass, fundamentals and their overtones are/become directional, a wonderful part of imaging.