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System upgrade, need advice, source or speakers?

Hi,

I've had my system for a few years and have been thinking about tweaking it. Right now it consists of:

Speakers: Zu Definition MKII
Amp: Tom Evans Linear A
DAC/Pre: PS Audio Perfectwave DAC

All of my music is digital (flac) and the only input I use is USB hooked up to a mac mini.

For the longest time I've been thinking about swapping out my PS Audio DAC for something else. 1) I only need the USB input so I don't need the bridge etc that the Perfectwave offers. 2) I've always had the sneaking suspicion (for no particular reason) that the DAC was the limiting factor in my system.

I started looking into higher end DACs like the Lampizator Level 5 and the Calyx Femto.

But now I'm wondering, would I be better off keeping the Perfectwave (or swapping it for something like the NAD M51 or Berkeley Audio DAC) and upgrading my Def MKIIs to MKIIIs.). The price for either option is roughly the same.

Any advice would be appreciated.
danyal711
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,384 posts
 
You will always get the most bang for your buck by upgrading the speakers. I do not know very much about the particular speakers you have so I don't know if the upgrade is worthwhile. The differences in dac's, especially when you get into the pricier models is not as great as the reviewers would have you believe.

Case in point, I have a Wyred dac with my laptop running through it and the dac in my Esoteric cd player. The sound of the dac's are very close, even though the Wyred uses a ESS dac and the Esoteric uses a Burr Brown dac. I just don't see that replacing the dac will give you a big difference.
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
I agree with Stereo5, the bang for the buck lies with the speakers. The point of diminishing returns kicks in very quickly once you get above $1,000 or so with DACs...

-RW-
needfreestuff's avatar
needfreestuff
572 posts
 
I would think speakers would be an obvious choice you can go as far as your wallet will take you. Another alternative would be vinyl perhaps that the sound your searching for. Good Luck.
roscoeiii's avatar
roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
I too would say speakers. There are a number of impressions here about the MkII to the MkIII upgrade on those Zus. They might help that decision.

And I would also look at what other speakers are around at the price point you are thinking about. I'd audition things if you can to see what you can get for your speaker dollar. You may come back to the decision to upgrade the Zus, or you may find something you like better. Many excellent flavors of speakers out there.

If you only need USB for your DAC, you could also trade down to a USB only DAC or a cheaper DAC to free up more funds for speakers. DSPeaker Dual Core would be one cheaper option that also gets you DSP room correction abilities (some sellers have audition options so you could see for yourself).
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