whats the best addition u have bought for system

How are you using your Pioneer Elite receiver? Are you using it to power a 2-channel system, or are the PSB Stratus Golds part of a 5- or 5.1 channel surround system?

What kind of disc player do you have? What year is it from?

Are you reasonably satisfied with the PSBs' tonal balance and how they fill the room?

If you are using the Elite receiver in a 2-channel system, can you re-route the channels to bi-amp the PSBs?

Here's what I'm getting at: From what you've described, your PSB Stratus Golds are the best component in your system. The Pioneer Elite was a very good surround receiver when it came out, and Pioneer Elite stuff tends to be well built and sounds good, but your Stratus Golds could perform to a higher level with the right amplification behind them.

I found the specs on your receiver, and the power is rated down to 6 ohms, but the PSBs are spec'd as 4 ohm speakers. I have heard the PSB Stratus Golds in an extensive audition, and I have long (12 years) experience as owner of another large, floorstanding ported loudspeaker, the Mirage M5si.

Although the Stratus Gold is spec'd at 87dB, the Stereophile review measured them at 84dB. When you combine this low sensitivity, low impedance, and port-loaded 10" woofer, you need a wide bandwidth, high wattage, high current amp with high damping factor and very low output impedance to bring out the best in your speakers. Or a pair of such amps, since they are bi-wirable. I noticed an improvement in clarity, dynamics, and transparency when I biamped my Mirages.

If you go with a single amp, I recommend something that puts out 250 to 300 watts/channel into 4 ohms, and is comfortable at running into low impedance loads for long periods. I have heard really good things about a reasonably priced line of amps from the Pro Audio industry (provided you give them 120 hours of break-in). I have not personally heard the ART Audio SLA4, but it looks like it might be an economical approach to get an amp that elevates the performance of the PSBs. The SLA4 is a 4-channel amp that would puts out 140 wpc x 4 into 4 ohms. Or one of the high-powered, high current Parasound power amps would work well with these speakers.

From there, you would want to pick a preamp that is a good match to your amplification, and a disc player that provides the best sound you can afford to the downstream components. Instead of spending a lot on a disc player, you might want to get an Oppo DV-980H or DV-983H and feed the digital stream to a Benchmark DAC1 or LavryBlack DA10. The Benchmark is supposedly immune to incoming jitter. The Lavry website has several pdf whitepapers about Lavry's design philosophy, including a paper that describes his approach to jitter reduction and control.

Best addition to my system: 700 LPs for $500.

You wouldn't believe how much enjoyment in listening I get ;)

A high quality tube amp. For me it was my Rogue Stereo 90.

What is your budget now and over time?

Flyin2jz, from where you are today you might consider any of the following as next steps:

1. Dedicated AC lines from your circuit breaker to your equipment, if you have an option to do this. I'd definitely do this before spending money on any power conditioner.

2. Experiment with your speaker room placement to make sure you are getting the best sound from them of which they are capable of delivering. If you have them back against the wall, try moving them out into the room. If you have something large in between them, try clearing out that center space. Watch for room symmetry and listen for reflections and seating location. Do some reading about speaker and room positioning, but experimenting is most important.

3. Pay attention to your cabling and try to position them so you don't have cables tangled with each other and don't have electrical cords in parallel with signal carrying cables. Check and clean all of your contacts (electrical and audio); isopropyl alcohol from the drug store (92% or more pure, with no additives) works very well.

3. Consider a separate amplifier, while continuing to use your receiver as the control unit (preamp) for your system. Keep in mind that amps and speakers should always be considered jointly with each other, so either match to your current speakers of be sure what you choose will match well to future speakers you're likely to consider.

4. Pay attention to your own listening priorities and make changes only a little at a time, staying true to your priorities. Work always towards neutrality with any component you add, being careful not to start buying equipment based on balancing colorations against each other (warmer, cooler, brighter, not as bright).

5. Listen to other people's systems. Listen to the systems as a whole to develop a better and better idea of what is important to you. Use complex music for listening, not just single instrument or small ensemble or a singer. Read Lloyd Walker's article on listening and the evaluation process.

6. Have fun.
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