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Burning question regarding upgrading paths

Thanks visiting my thread!

While you are here, please ponder on the following queries and answer to the best of your abilities. Each of these questions is designed to upgrade my state of mind. You ability is timed and will be weighted against the answers given by people who are the same age as you.

1) What is the best way to upgrade existing system "A"?
(upgrade=more clarity, dynamics and better soundstage)
(you only have $2000 to allocate)

A= Cal Audio Delta-AQ Emeralds
Meridian 518-Mapleshade ultrathin
Cal Audio Sigma-AQ Emeralds
Aragon 8002-AQ Argent/Midnight double biwire
KEF 103/4
LAT International on all electronic components

A) Upgrade DAC
A dac with tube output is prefered.
B) Purchase preamp
A tube preamp is prefered.
C) Upgrade cable between amp and speaker
Silver cable is prefered.
D) Digital cable
Make me a believer.
E) None of the above
Sell system A and start over
F) I don't care.

2) What is the fundamental utilitarian purpose of Zen Buddhism for the self and for the masses?

A) By fulfilling nature, man is fulfilled.
B) By acceptance of thought, man becomes congruent.
C) By meditating, man negates yin and yan from consciousness.
D) Meditation is good cardiovascular exercise.
E) Zen is derived from aryan caste systems designed to enslave the masses.
F) None of the above. (prove short essay answer?)

Stop, your test is finished.

Thanks for helping me sleep easier,
Etane
viggen
tacs
220 posts
 
1) E - sell system and start over. it's the process that's fun, not the outcome.
my advice on what to replace it with: only minimalist tube circuits + sensitive speakers will satisfy your zen quest and still allow forays into audio (however, true zen - or just meditation- would probably dictate not engaging in these silly pursuits like artificial sound reproduction in the home)
solid state amps are to be avoided at all costs. go to rock concerts if you want to hear them.
$2,000: give to Afghanis fleeing American bombs.
2) probably A; I'd never heard E before, but it's an interesting theory
Thanks for the quiz!
audiotomb's avatar
audiotomb
1,112 posts
 
viggen

nice system

your upgrade path is clear to me

(I just recently took the dac plunge and am working on the pre next)

upgrade the Cal sigma to an EVS Millenium II
$1050 - much warmer, smoother, and better imaging and seperation of instruments. I recently did this upgrade (I own Cal too) and wow. sit back and enjoy for a few months (you will be pulling out old discs you were previously bored with, I am)

www.tweakaudio.com

next upgrade the preamp
many good possibilities there
tube pre will go well with your aragon
Audio Research or Sonic Frontiers are nice

do some tube rolling, enjoy

may be able to forgo the pre switch early
by investing an additional $100 on the Dac and getting
EVS' audioattenuators (vol controlled second outputs) and going directly to the amp (try it and see if it works for you.

evs dac + attenuators $1150 done assuming you only use cd as front end

preamp? spend $1500-2000 a year from now used on audiogon
dbw1
173 posts
 
Question 1) B - get yourself a good preamp.

Question 2) F - none of the above. however, you may satisfy both questions by actually upgrading the speaker cable instead of getting a preamp, as long as you buy acoustic zen, of course (they do have a mostly silver cable). actually, the proper answer to question 2 is probably, "no,' since the question itself violates a few zen principles.

this took me 26 years, 6 months, 20 days, 5 hours, 53 minutes, 27 seconds to complete.
caterham1700
271 posts
 
1)low mass/rapid dissipation support($100-$500) & new music to listen to(remainder of budget)
2)I don't care
sean
6,231 posts
 
I hate to become a cheering section for specific brands, etc... but i have to second Audiotomb's recommendation of the EVS Millennium II. I have CAL Alpha's, Sigma's, 18 bit and 24 bit versions, etc.. and think that there is NO comparison. It will amaze you how good this DAC is for the money. All the smoothness, warmth, body, air, soundstage, etc.. of tubes with the speed and clarity of SS. Ric can even build you one with several volts of output without using an extra gain stage AND include his "Ultimate Attenuators" ( passive volume controls ). This would give you the increased drive level that you might be looking for, added versatility of volume controls AND give you the best DAC that you'll get for anywhere near the price. Sean
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