@williewonka Thanks so much for the advice Steve. I can see by the links you provided and the link to your system page that you know of what you speak.
Yes, another audiophile at a crossroads story and request for advice
I find as I’m rapidly approaching retirement that 2 competing thoughts about enjoying music after i retire. First, Im really looking forward to having the time to relax and listen to music any day of the week (not just the weekend now). Second, I don’t expect to be continue any significant investment in equipment upgrades post bringing home a paycheck.
My current system consists of a 30+ year old Linn LP12 with Linn cartridge and Vincent PHO-701 tube phono pre-amp. I only listen to analog when i want to enjoy an album i bought in the 60’s - 80’s.
90+% of my listening is streaming Tidal using Roon via Roon Nucleus, Lumin D2 as a streamer only, feeding a RME ADI-2-FS DAC.
i still enjoy my CD collection (9% of my listening) and still purchase CDs) on a Primaluna tube CD player.
All these are connected to a Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP integrated amp with original primaluna tubes from Upscale Audio. My speakers are the original Joseph Audio Perspectives (not the graphene version).
Power and interconnect cables are mid-level grade and power management via Niagara 1200.
i listen mostly to instrumental jazz.
This system is enjoyable, but I’m missing the last elements of sound details that reproduce an accurate organic sense of hearing guitar strings being plucked or picked, drum sticks hitting/tapping membranes or brass cymbals, the sound of a string base wood cavity vibrate. Hopefully that describes what im looking for. I do not like hyper/etched detail especially in the upper frequencies.
I will add that the Primaluna CD player is the most enjoyable source of the 3 I currently. Oh, and i also want to simplify my system.
So, if you come with me this far to the intersection, heres what im debating. Should i chunk the integrated and Perspectives and invest in a top notch set of headphones (like the Focal Clear MG) and dedicated headphone amp? In other words go to a headphone system. Or should i go the route of chucking all but the Perspectives and the Nucleus and invest in a high quality Roon approved integrated amp with built in DAC/Streamer?
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I've found that improving the source is the best method to enhance detail: -Consider an Uptone EtherREGEN AND an Uptone JS2 LPS. Utilize the JS2 dual power outputs to feed both your REGEN and Nucleus. The Nucleus is a good server and benefits from a better power supply. -At the risk of being heavily criticized, try connecting your streamer to DAC with USB. My system produces more detail using USB over SPDIF. This relies on a superior DAC over streamer. -Try using Roon to upsample Tidal output to higher PCM bitrate or even DSD. As a sidenote, I strongly suggest plugging your amp directly into the wall. I’ve found this produces better results over even my Niagara 7000’s high output bank. |
@ezstreams - your Morrow cables are actually quite good from a design perspective, but they are still using OFC, which is little dated compared to OCC copper, but you should be able to sell them quite easily because they have a good reputation for quality/effectiveness. I just took a look at Audio Envy products and it seems they have some very nice products and I think their speaker cables would make a noticeable improvement compared to the Morrow cables. There are of course many other fine cables out there, but you do have to know a bit more about cable materials/insulation/geometries in order to discern good from bad designs. I would start by upgrading your speaker cables and then introduce interconncts and finally power cables because "we humans" tend to attribute an improvements to the last "component" (I view cables as a component) introduced into a system. Having good speaker cables allows you to hear just how much improvement was achieved by introducing other cables like interconnects and power cables. Power cables would be the last thing I would upgrade because the improvements tend to be more subtle and less noticeable, especially when applied to main power amps. This is because the power supplies tend to be designed to match the power requirements, whereas source components tend to have a less "robust" power supply, so attaching a good power cable would make a noticeable improvement Hope that helps - Steve |
@ezstreams I have an alternative option for you, it is fully in keeping with what you have made known in the OP. You are approaching a period of your life where you have additional time to spend experiencing your HiFi Set Up. You also have a Budget to swap out some of the ancillaries used in your System and create a sound that is seemingly more to your satisfaction. With the above two points in mind, there are Pro's and Con's, I will make my thoughts known on these. Pro's 1, Time available is now your friend, put a request out to meet up with local to yourself audio enthusiasts, the lessons that can be learned from experiencing other systems and friendships that can form are extremely valuable. 2, In my own HiFi Group (made up mainly of a group of 10 retired and semi-retired members, where a monthly meet is usually the minimum) there are members systems that have evolved as a result of attending these meet ups. Where their choices have been structured around the good impressions made from listening to other members systems and having discovered alternative ancillaries worthy of consideration. Your ideal ancillary could prove to be a item available as a used purchase and save outlaying extra $0000's. 3, Creating a Shortlist and visiting commercial suppliers with a demonstration facility to enable a ancillary of interest to be experienced is another option to be used with the additional time available. Con's 1, Buying with only a visual of a product as the introduction is a fast route to a purchase that does not content the end user. 2, Buying from recommendation only is no different from buying with a visual of a product. 3, Not Selecting Products for a further investigation, using the above methods and others for the purpose of producing a Shortlist is the way that is the least sure footed, and can easily be a wasteful use of ones hard earned. 4, Any purchases being made do inquire about the aftersales support, Warranty Periods, etc. In the US there are regions that have very little requirement to support such aftersales services. |
Get a hearing test first. Then if your hearing is impaired, as you had suggested, get the best heard aids you can afford. Even Costco has great deals. I have Resound brand and it’s the best investment I have made in my audio system and to a very large extent... my day to day life. There are audiophiles here who don’t agree, but why does anyone get glasses when one could just get by with poor eyesight??? Does not make sense. You might be surprised, your system might sound better than you thought. Just my two cents... |
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