Upgrade my Theta or move on?


Need advice on which seems smarter at this point.I currently own a casablanca 1(basic DACS)and am thinking of either upgrading to CAS 3 or looking at the anthem 30 or the EAD.Upgrade on the CAS is mighty steep!Would like to keep cost below 4K.Can upgrade to the 3 for 3K but to get the better DACS (extreme dacs) it's 3K more. Any idea's?I listen to 60% music,40%HT.Thanks
MY System
aragon amps-3002&3005
Mirage speakers(3si)fronts,Mccsi-center,OMR2-rears&BPSS210 Sub
Pioneer elite59 DVD
Cardas cables
kman0911
I see, if youve got em... just be careful. It is serious over-kill. You probably only need 50wpc, 100 at most if the drivers are grossly inefficient. At 50 that is 350w total, while the 3005 = 2100w (gulp).

My advise is to check out the Surround Sound link at http://www.linkwitzlab.com which is valuable resource for truth in all things audio.

There some interesting papers at the LINKS link as well.
Upgrade. I upgraded my I up III with 2 extreme dacs. Sounded pretty good. But then downloaded some new Theta software for the DACs, absolutely amazing. But I sure wish Theta would be more customer friendly.
I was in pretty much exactly the same boat--I had a Casa I with basic DACs looking at about $8K for an upgrade. In my case, I ended up realizing that most of what I listened to was 2 channel anyway--I had no center (Casa set to phantom center) and rarely turned on the VT60 powering my rear speakers. At the same time, the idea of decluttering my living room (rear speakers) appealed... so...

I ended up picking up a dCS Purcell and Delius... Thought I could run 'em w/o a preamp, but ended up losing some slam, so I dropped in a pre from another setup. Although I'm still working out some kinks, I'm *much* happier...
I did upgrade.Sent my unit to theta on 11/11.I DID EXTREMES in the fronts LRC/sub and moved my standards to the rears.Just got the unit back on 1/4/05 and all i can say is WOW!Sounds like i have a new system!Now looking for cables since i now need balanced for fronts.Any ideas?What fun using all these settings!-Kevin
Just to clarify some issues about amp power. While the warnings about damaging your speakers due to excessive power have merit, it is very unlikely.

In almost all cases (certainly most of the cases that I've seen) damage to the voice coil of a cone driven speaker is caused by insufficient power. Though it seems oxymoronic, it happens all the time.

When your amp runs out of power, it will clip the signal. This turns the nice sine wave into a nasty square wave (OK, an approximation of a square wave). Moreover, the square wave has a lot of high frequency harmonics in it. Two things happen.

One, the voice coil of your cone speake is extended for the length of time it is trying to reproduce the signal. This causes the voice coil to heat up. It's the moving back and forth of the voice coil that helps cool it. By leaving it extended for long periods (relative to normal operation) the heat can't dissipate and the voice coil is in danger or burning out.

Secondly, the high frequency harmonics stress the voice coil while its already in this vunerable position. That couple with the first issue cause real problems.

The clipping characteristics of amps vary. Tube amps do not have that problem. They clip smoothly. Single ended amps also have much nicer clipping characteristics though there are very few high power single ended transitor amps on the market.

So, enjoy your powerful amps and do not worry about speaker damage. Your ears will tell you long before your speakers do that you're playing your music too loud.