Have I Hit The Point Of Diminishing Returns?


System ... Musical Fidelity Nu Vista CD, Bat VK-3i Preamp, Musical Fidelity A300cr power amp, Magnum Dynalab MD-102 Tuner, B&W N804 speakers, Cardas Golden Reference speaker (bi-wire) and ICs. I realize my rig is a bit dated, but it sounds great. If I were to upgrade, how much better could it get? Have I hit the point of diminishing returns where a lot more $$ gets only a small % increase in sound quality? If not, what component would you suggest upgrading and why? Thanks to all.
rlb61
I think you need to isolate what you are trying to achieve. It's a small room, so you can only do so much. For example, one could be looking for more realism in the human voice, more bass impact, better sound at lower volume, etc. You can't just walk into this without a goal. In my experience, the biggest part of the puzzle is finding a pair of speakers that work in your room. When you find it, it's an amazing upgrade. The bad part is - IMO, this is nothing but trial and error and there's no way to predict the speaker that's going to work best. It's like the errors in the room combine with the errors in the speaker to somehow work out. My current speakers were fairly expensive (for me) and I wouldn't buy them without a home audition. Fortunately, it worked out great. But if you like those B&Ws, you could probably buy a used Harbeth SHL5 and sell them at minimal if any loss. I think that might be an alternative.
Go out and listen to as many systems as you can. Join an audio society, attend some hifi shows, and listen to some friends systems. This will give you a better idea of what is possible. You may not hear one system that does it all but you will certainly hear things that can be improved upon in your system.
Yes, you past the point of diminishing returns as soon as you go past your first boombox. The laws of diminishing returns hit early and hard, just as in any other hobby. A $10,000 watch is not 1000 times better than a $10 watch. Same goes for audio gear.

You have stated twice that you are very happy with the sound of your system. My advice would be to buy more music and just enjoy it. Don't let others spend your money for you, unless you are just dying to throw money around. If you are happy, there is no need to seek out unhappiness.

Cheers,
John
John - Thanks for that. I was just curious as to how much
better it could get versus cost. Perhaps I've got
"upgradeitis." However, to pay a significant amount
for a de minimis improvement or difference in sound, makes
little sense to me. It just may be time to get off the roller
coaster and focus on the music rather than the gear; being a
gear geek, that's not so easy.
We all have - long ago.

Here's a bug in the ear suggestion. Take it for what it's worth to you.

Grace Design M920 w/remote --- $2300
Neumann KH310 active monitors - $4450
Balanced cables of choice --- $ 500
------------------------------------
TOTAL $7250

You can use your tuner as before and use your CD as a transport. Mission accomplished. You will never look back.