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Recommendations for 5k upgrade

As winter approaches more time is spent listening so I have allocated this budget for system changes and/or improvement. Planned changes are marked between brackets.

Source:
PC based music server / SB Touch (ext. power supply upgrade, maybe Bolder?) fed into Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC with Dexa opamps. Alternative source: Sony DVP 9000ES CD/SACD via optical.

Amplification:
Conrad Johnson CT-5 with 6H30DR tubes, CJ LP140 mono blocks (tube rolling planned, which 6922?)

Speaker/sub:
Dunlavy SC-IV modded, Velodyne DD-12 or REL R305 (haven't decided which one to keep)

Power Conditioning:
Audience AdeptResponse 12 with e PowerChord (AU24e PC planned, dedicated 20A lines planned with the next room renovation)

Cabling:
IC: NordOst Valkyrja throughout (maybe Valhalla, looking for alternatives with better price/performance), NordOst Silver Shadow for S/PDIF
SC: NordOst Heimdall (probably the weakest link here, upgrade to Tyr2 ? Alternatives?)
PC: NordOst Vishnu to preamp and power amps, stock PCs on other devices (waiting for the final direction for PCs, not sure to stick to the loom theory, having all PCs of the same brand)

Isolation: mostly Black Diamond Racing cones/pucks and one BDR shelf under the preamp, some Stillpoints (planning to experiment with alternatives like Aurio, Symposium, etc, under the devices, maybe some for under the speakers)

Room treatment: just acoustic panels behind the speakers, need high WAF suggestions for my 21' x 30' room which has a half sloping cathedral ceiling and an open staircase. (looking for bass traps that can blend in with the interior for the corners)

I am not unhappy with the current setup but like to have more details without being too lean/bright.

What is my weakest link?

Of course YMMV but appreciate any suggestion to take this system to the next level without a second mortgage (or divorce) and/or improve the synergy between components. TIA!
polyglot
polyglot OP
77 posts
 
Douglas, mea culpa, I have the EE MiniMax Plus all along, I had both the standard version and the newer version, preferring the improved sound of the latter.

I have now upgraded all existing PC to Audience powerChords and am pretty happy about that upgrade. Also added a HiFi Tuning fuse for the preamp, considering to do the same for the tube power amps.

Will decide on the CD or transport upgrade this week. The Cary 306 could maybe serve as main DAC so the whole setup looks simpler.
vhiner
544 posts
 
Polyglot,

I've not heard the Cary 306 but I've heard from others that it is excellent and quite elegant. With regard to the PWD MKII, if you do get a chance to audition it, make sure that you have all inputs adjusted to the NativeX setting and to use the automatic filter setting. Additionally, while all inputs sound excellent, I believe that the Coax and XLR connections are significantly better than the I2S if you use high quality coax...Nordost would be perfect for it. If you can audition MKII with the mated PW Transport, then I believe it will give the Cary a fair fight. ;-)

In any case, I'm glad you liked the new fuses. I think they're a pretty good tweak for the money.

Sounds like you're making some good, strategic choices and it's paying off.
Congrats!
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Polyglot, alright! Sweet, you have the advanced version; you're doing great.

I urge you to get the set of Burson discrete Opamps as well, as this will give you ongoing complete flexibility in system building. Also, change from optic to dig coax cable for the transport and you will have another sizable improvement. You can "roll cables" and try several of them, as they are not nearly as expensive as speaker cables, and there is a wide variance in performance between different brands.

I would not necessarily assume the Cary will be superior performance-wise to its use as a transport to the EE DAC. I'm guessing the enhanced EE DAC will be better holistically than the Cary alone. The power cord and digital cable will have great sway in the final result; try it both ways. I've never let appearance stand in the way of superior performance, i.e. one box vs. two, etc. Do not assume that necessarily a single box solution to CD will automatically outperform a transport with EE DAC.

I would first get a good dig coax cable between the Sony unit and EE DAC to see if that represents a pleasing improvement for you. With the discrete Opamps from Burson and DEXA you should be able to tune this to perfection.
There is a lot of upgrade path available for you to travel no matter what decisions you pursue. :)

The improved power cords will also add considerably to the overall quality of the rig. If you take the following steps which will not cost much relatively, you should have respectable gains and may feel content to hold at that level for a while:

-PCs upgraded
-Have both Burson and DEXA complete sets of discrete Opamps available for rolling/tuning
-coaxial digital link between cd/transport and DAC

Regardless of whether you choose to do the additional discrete Opamps, the PC and digital cable upgrades should be done even if you seek a different player.
polyglot OP
77 posts
 
Douglas, I am already using the NordOst Silver Shadow from the EE Plus as indicated in my OP. Which brand/model would you suggest as an upgrade (Valhalla or the Transparent Reference are, budget wise, not an option for now).

As I am pleased with the Audience power conditioner and PCs, I was wondering if the digital AU24e would be a good improvement over the Silver Shadow.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Ah, missed that; very well.

One brand of cables which strike my ear as having a very pleasing balance of tonality and definition are Clarity Cables (reviewed at Dagogo.com). They are not the only game going for good cables, but a very good sounding wire for the money.

I would watch the conductor material of the digital cable; it appears the Silver Shadow uses a silver over copper and if so then likely the sound will be thinner than if you seek an all copper conductor. This will not be the case in every instance, but in most instances I have tested it follows suit.

It's unorthodox, but if you have one or two different Interconnects lying around, try one of them. You may be very surprised by the result. In many systems I have used an interconnect with a slightly more pleasing result than a digital cable of the same brand. If you are after higher definition often it can be achieved through use of an interconnect acting as a digital link. Rolling discrete Opamps along with changes to digital cables combine for a powerful system tuning set of tools.

The DAC Plus accepts AES/EBU input and whatever transport/player you have it would be an advantage to use it in most cases. Usually the best transport/DAC combinations have been through use of an all Copper XLR cable via the AES/EBU connection. It is not an absolute guarantee of the best results but often turns out to be. The sonic characteristics of silver OFC versus all copper digital cables holds regardless of whether AES/EBU or S/PDIF is used. :)
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