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New Streamer, DAC or Let it Be

Hello.  I am at a crossroads and interested in soliciting suggestions on a streamer and/or DAC upgrade using your collective experience.  My focus is actually home theatre, with perhaps 20% of the time devoted to music.  The space is my wife's office by day, my home theatre/ listening room by night, and furniture placement, windows, doors, etc. cannot be moved; it is what it is. 

Equipment is a Marantz AV8805A processor, Parasound A51 amp and new Focal Kanta 2 speakers.  My streamer is a Bluesound Node with upgraded internal power supply and external LPS, and Gustard U18 DDC feeding a Gustard X26 PRO DAC with SR purple fuse.  The Node upgrades made a very positive difference, and addition of the Gustard U18 was a noticeable and very welcome upgrade as well.  My frame of reference/ comparison are CDs from a modest collection played on an Oppo BD103, fed to the Marantz via HDMI (I tried Toslink and Coax but HDMI to the Marantz sounded best).  I stream a variety of music using Qobuz and the Bluesound app on my phone.  The app is OK but despite a trumpeted recent upgrade, Bluesound has not yet resolved something as simple as the ability to organize Favorites by Artist or Album; they appear in the reverse order added, which is nuts.  The various digital upgrades have made streaming sound just about as good as the CD.  Here’s the dilemma.

I live vicariously through your experience with the enormous breadth of quality digital equipment out there.  I am not necessarily looking to throw money at something I do infrequently, yet am driven by the unknown: will an upgrade provide added pleasure and justify enhancements equal to the expense for the limited time I listen to music?  Obviously, a therapist could help, but I trust many of you have been down this road and can offer insight.  My questions are, would a streamer upgrade alone take me to the next level?  Is a DAC upgrade instead the better path?  Or, am I chasing unicorns, and is my humble setup good enough, to simply let it be?  I learned never to say never, but the likelihood of an investment now and then further upgrades down the road is unlikely, as the wife has zero patience and appreciation for all this.  As to existing equipment, the Marantz and Parasound aren’t going anywhere, and I am very happy with the Kantas.  Any purchase will likely be via the used market, to mitigate costs.  My budget is in the $3K range (preferably less, usually more), which is what I was looking at for a used/ open box Aurender N150.  I am by no means limiting myself to just that brand or model streamer, and have not scratched the surface on a DAC, should that happen.

Thanks for your time and any experience/ suggestions you might share.

traubr
traubr OP
21 posts
 

YYZ, I looked long and hard at Small Green's products and adopted his fiber philosophy.  From my router, I have an FMC with (more or less) the high grade Finisar Small Green sells in his package, a run of fiber cable to another FMC with Finisar and LPS, which feeds an LHY SW-8 ethernet switch that connects to the Node, Amazon Cube for video, et al.  I felt that setup provided the cleanest signal down the line.  I did an A/B versus a run of ethernet to the LHY and felt the fiber was better.  Not by a lot, but better.  And thanks for the input on the Gustard.  It is my initial DAC foray, and perhaps a good place to build upon.  I liked the Schitt products I read about, as they care about quality, make it here and have a sense of humor.  The latter goes a long way for me in this world (quality first and foremost).

 

Soix, I lived with the Marantz sound for years and like it.  It does a really good job with home theatre and the stereo sound is not shabby.  Could the sound be improved with another setup or preamp?  No doubt.  A friend is a McIntosh-phile and his system, with venerable Dahlquiest DQ20 speakers, sounds extremely good, and he has a much better room to play it in.  I happen to like mine more because it has way more guts and body.  As music is lesser in my world, I'm not sure whether replacing the Marantz or running another stereo preamp side by side in my system makes sense.  That said, Mr. Prentice tossed out an all-in-one solution which has me thinking...

12many, the AVR is the control for everything in the system, including volume.  For detail, the Node connects to the Gustard U18 DDC via the best USB cable Silnote makes, then to the Gustard DAC via both HDMI and AES (I flop back and forth between them), then via Audience AU24 SX XLRs to the Marantz.  The Audience cables were a really nice upgrade.  I tried a few different IC cables, including Cardas Clear Sky and Cygnus, and found the Silnote cables their equal in sound at half the price. I have Silnote Orion ICs, and Silnote Master Anniversary Reference speaker cables to the Kantas.

12many
258 posts
 

@traubr I suggest you try establishing a path for your two channel signal that does not go through the AVR. I know your AVR is an expensive one, but that would be where I would start. I noticed an improvement when I removed the AVR from the chain, although mine is not as expensive as yours - I think retail was about $1500.

I also have a dual use space and I use the R & L channel pre-amp outs of my AVR into a benchmark Dac3 (acting as a pre-amp) and then into my amp for HT use.  For 2 channel, you need a volume control so as others have suggested a good preamp. I have been eyeing tube preamps which I am told would pair nicely with your amp and speakers.

Finally, I jumped from a stock node to an N150 and that was also a noticeable improvement. I can’t comment on your improvement because you modified your Node. Can either of your Gustard devices control volume?

dougsat
374 posts
 

@traubr 

If you have another room. I would suggest putting together a second system that is a dedicated 2 channel system. For $3K you can put together a very enjoyable musical system. Starting from scratch on a modest 2nd system should yield better results. Throwing more money at your current setup most likely won’t provide you with that WOW factor you are looking for. 

traubr OP
21 posts
 

12many, in the quest for WOW, a separate preamp is fraught with issues, not least of which is where to put it.  My equipment "rack" runneth over now, and the sucker just wouldn't fit.  Considering space, a separate two channel audio path and a sound quality upgrade, a combo preamp/ DAC seems a viable option.  Or, upgrading one of the components (streamer or DAC).  Or, the easiest option of all, doing nothing, as JBourne suggests.  Hmmm...

traubr OP
21 posts
 

Dougsat, there is, in fact, another room, although the layout is far from ideal.    It has my original AVR in there with a good set of speakers, running "background" music through Heos. I also have a modest amplifier not currently in use that could be inserted.  I prefer to pipe music through my new speakers and higher quality setup in the prime space, but am curious what you might suggest in the way of a $3K musical system.

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