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If someone handed you this system, what would you change?

I was reading the latest post from a member here describing the rabbit hole he went down to find the perfect system. Lots of money spent upgrading lots of different gear. Made me wan to pose this question, and I ask it with this in mind. I am very happy with what I have, but if someone with extensive knowledge were to be handed this setup, what would this person do to swap out/add equipment that would really make a noticable difference. What, in your opinion would you want me to consider. (I will not take as an insult to anything you may say and I do have some pre-conceived ideas as to where this may go, but I really want your opinion)

My system from source to speakers:

Node 2i music streamer with Deezer as prefered music service
Mini DSP DAC with Dirac Live calibrated for my 17 X 25 room
Emotiva XSP1 Pre Amp (with home theater bypass function allowing a yamaha            receiver to take over on movie night). Then through balanced connection to:

Emotiva XPA gen 3 Power amp at 400 WPC bi-amped into mids and highs of speakers, and also from pre-amp directly to speakers that have 700 WPC to base drivers of speakers

Speaker wires from power amp to speakers are from Big Ear audio in Tempe Arizona. Owner builds his own cables; paid $800

Speakers: Legacy Audio Focus XD (again, bi amped from power amp and internal power built in to the speakers.

So, that's it. I went with as good as I could when I put this all together at about the same time 3 years ago. I am still really enjoying it BUT..... I feel a hole burning in my pocket for the next upgrade if needed. What do ya think

128x128mikekollar
mrskeptic
262 posts
 

I feel a hole burning in my pocket for the next upgrade if needed. What do ya think

I think this is the crux of the issue. There are so many people willing to spend more and more money seeking that "perfect" sound that doesn't exist. Reading about new stuff, seeing glossy pictures and reading flowery words and we succumb to the temptation. Well, I realized a while back, that's a losing proposition. You'll NEVER get as much for your previous stuff as you paid for it unless you've got something that is vintage and rare so you spend even more get less. Certainly not sound financially and likely not much, if any, improvement. But hey, it's your money, spend it like you want, but until you (generally) decide you've had enough and realize there's no end, you'll always be looking for the next great thing.

pharaoh's avatar
pharaoh
7 posts
 

As ghdprentice said, room treatment. The room is the biggest part of the sound. Secondly, get hold of a power regenerator. NOT a conditioner. This will take care of any money burning a hole in your pocket, and will make every item you have already purchased stand up and be noticed. I have a basic psaudio one, but they have 3 options, I think.

Enjoy.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,640 posts
 

Hard to give a quick answer.  My first thought was to replace both the older Node and Deezer, but then my thoughts went to “Are you using the DAC in the Node? I have the newer N130 and it really sounded okay until I hooked up an external DAC. The difference between the $3 DAC chip that is part of a Swiss Army knife and a single purpose DAC made an amazing difference for me.

All the best.

mikekollar's avatar
mikekollar OP
42 posts
 

I am using the external DAC that is in my Mini DSP device that gives me Dirac Live. My source is lossless streaming FLAC files from Deezer HIFI. One thing I can tell you is that when I switch in and out of what Dirac Live did to room corection;  it is noticable to anyone that sits in my sweet spot. I do not have the luxury of lots of different speaker placements. They sound great at about 7 feet apart, toed in, with listening position at 11 feet. Only inches to play with on speaker placement, not feet. (19 inches from wall)

jl35
3,977 posts
 

agree the speakers are way better than your other gear...

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