Cary SLI 80 Signature Upgrade?

I would just suggest that you live with your new gear for some time. Remember that you upgraded well beyond your initial budget already. As a newcomer what you may not be aware of is the fact that there is no end to this chasing of the carrot. You will never have the resources to take this pursuit to its ultimate conclusion because there is no such thing. There is always more to achieve or obtain. Take your time. Stretch it out. Move from one plateau to another slowly and deliberately. Remember you are buying this stuff to listen to music and try to keep that as your focus. Becoming too involved in the pursuit of perfection will only get you in trouble. And that treadmill leads only to dissatisfaction, which is clearly counterproductive.

All good advice.

Yeah, John at Audio Connection is my guy! He’s the one who recommended I consider upgrading to those old Cardas Caps he has but of course he told me I can wait to do it IF I want to do it. I really I want to be satisfied with what I’ve got from the get-go and not fall down the slippery slope of obsessing about upgrading and tube rolling in the future, which is why I asked you all if I should switch out the Jensens now.

Since it was mentioned, I never had a budget…I just spent more than I originally thought I had to in order to achieve GOOD sound. This is actually just a part of “furnishing” a new home from almost scratch and I like nice things and I’m paying for it all with cash so I haven’t completely lost my mind!

Macrojack,
Nice post with words of wisdom. Chasing perfection often leads to frustration and angst.

True Charles...and what's worse, you're chasing something that doesn't exist.