2. amps-preamps
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I am looking to upgrade - looking for advice

So I am the guy who recently asked if a Rotel 1572 preamp would work with a Parasound A21+ amp. So I was asking because I was thinking of upgrading my current amp which is a Rotel 1552. The rest of my system is Yamaha CD player and project turntable (both approx $400 each), Bluesound Node, and B&W 705 S2 speakers. Right now I primarily stream my music through the node. So I was interested in the next step to improvement and I thought it would be what the amplifier. After reading some of the posts on my original question (would the A21 work well with my Rotel preamp I am now thinking that I need to look at both the preamp and amp. Of course that is you agree with my assessment. Here are a few of the amps I was looking at: A21, Vincent  SP-332, and Bryson 3b3. The preamps that were suggested all look outstanding: Benchmark LA4, Backert Labs Rhumba 1.3 and the Audionet Pre 1 G3. It looks like with these I would need to also get a DAC, not sure about the phono stage. Any advice is appreciated. I am knee to this.

tjraubacher
bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,194 posts
 

@tjraubacher   No idea what your budget is but could I suggest you look at a used Hegel H390 or even the H590.  Both will give you a beautiful sound, lots of power and a very good Preamp and DAC, all in one package.  Just a thought but one that would work well for you.  IMHO

grislybutter
2,989 posts
 

I am not sure why you are mixing the brands if you plan to upgrade both. Why wouldn't you stick with e.g. Parasound? Or Bryston. Etc. 

You will likely not struck out with 2 different "random" brands for a pre and power amp to find a perfect match. I would pick one component to upgrade to make the jump and try a number of models. Then I would upgrade the other components. Patience is your best friend :)

ghdprentice
6,965 posts
 

It depends on where you want to go… how far. Most of us have upgraded our systems over years.

 

I have a couple rules of thumb. 1. Never upgrade less than 2x or more in investment. This makes it very probable you are going to hear a really big improvement from the upgrade of each component. 2. Each electronic component (function) should be invested at approximately the same level (but you must choose the very best and compatible with your tastes). So, amp = preamp = DAC= phonostage = streamer. At this is point the full upgrade cycle is over… even if it takes couple years or more.

So, if you really want a big upgrade by the time you are done… then shoot for $1K to $1.5 K per function. In your price category I would not shy away from used. When done, your next step would be speakers, effectively starting the cycle over… or ending the cycle… depending what you want to do.

 

So, step one would be a great preamp. If you have the money, you could do an amp at the same time (or an integrated). Then, spend a lot of time with them… at least a couple hundred hours of listening… then go for a DAC and then a Streamer. I don’t know how invested you are in vinyl… but I would leave that behind. Lots of cost that could better be invested in your core system and streaming. A format with nearly infinite music with almost no cost.

Every component counts… the greater the investment the better it sounds (assuming you do your research).

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