ZD542,
Thanks for your advice, it's just what I'm looking for.
You nailed it on the head when you said I'm looking for an upgrade, I'm just not sure where the best place to invest my money is. And I think I might have complicated it by rolling it in with adding a turntable and integrating 2 channel and HT together, both things I haven't tried before. My new house is smaller and will only accommodate the stereo and HT in one room and I'm a little worried whether it's going to work out. If not the HT will get the axe.
You might be right on about bi-amping the 5As to improve the sound. My previous amps were about twice the power (400w 8ohm) driving 3A sigs and maybe that's where the difference in sound is coming from. Mr. Vandersteen has told me over the phone that his speakers don't need a lot of power and that my previous amps were overkill, but I've noticed that Vandys can really soak up power and don't play as loud as other speakers I've heard. I don't crank up my system often, but every once in a while it's nice.
So now as far as upgrading goes, I'm wondering if maybe I should go ahead and hold onto the Ayre K5xemp and just add a phono stage? Oh and maybe keep my eyes open for a second Dreadnaught if the bi-amping works out. It's funny that you mentioned the Ayre K1 because I'm still kicking myself for passing one up locally that had the phono boards and remote. The seller really bent over backwards to help me buy it, but I was short on money at the time, wasn't sure if I'd buy a turntable, and wanted the convenience of HT pass through.
For full disclosure, the main reason that I'm looking over my system and questioning whether it's up to snuff is because I just recently purchased the 5As. Someone offered them to me for a price that I absolutely could not refuse. All of the electronics were purchased prior to this in anticipation of hooking up my 3A sigs that have been in storage for the past 2 or so years.
With a $5K budget for either used or new equipment, where do you think I'd get the most bang for my buck? If I replace the Ayre with another preamp, then that'd add around another $2K to go into the budget after selling it. I don't want to spend money where it's not needed, but want to give the 5As the opportunity to sound their best.
Thanks for your advice, it's just what I'm looking for.
You nailed it on the head when you said I'm looking for an upgrade, I'm just not sure where the best place to invest my money is. And I think I might have complicated it by rolling it in with adding a turntable and integrating 2 channel and HT together, both things I haven't tried before. My new house is smaller and will only accommodate the stereo and HT in one room and I'm a little worried whether it's going to work out. If not the HT will get the axe.
You might be right on about bi-amping the 5As to improve the sound. My previous amps were about twice the power (400w 8ohm) driving 3A sigs and maybe that's where the difference in sound is coming from. Mr. Vandersteen has told me over the phone that his speakers don't need a lot of power and that my previous amps were overkill, but I've noticed that Vandys can really soak up power and don't play as loud as other speakers I've heard. I don't crank up my system often, but every once in a while it's nice.
So now as far as upgrading goes, I'm wondering if maybe I should go ahead and hold onto the Ayre K5xemp and just add a phono stage? Oh and maybe keep my eyes open for a second Dreadnaught if the bi-amping works out. It's funny that you mentioned the Ayre K1 because I'm still kicking myself for passing one up locally that had the phono boards and remote. The seller really bent over backwards to help me buy it, but I was short on money at the time, wasn't sure if I'd buy a turntable, and wanted the convenience of HT pass through.
For full disclosure, the main reason that I'm looking over my system and questioning whether it's up to snuff is because I just recently purchased the 5As. Someone offered them to me for a price that I absolutely could not refuse. All of the electronics were purchased prior to this in anticipation of hooking up my 3A sigs that have been in storage for the past 2 or so years.
With a $5K budget for either used or new equipment, where do you think I'd get the most bang for my buck? If I replace the Ayre with another preamp, then that'd add around another $2K to go into the budget after selling it. I don't want to spend money where it's not needed, but want to give the 5As the opportunity to sound their best.