There are many different upgrades, some are rubbish, some are essential (maybe). As a general rule of thumb, I measure how successful an upgrade is by whether it makes the system sound louder without touching the volume. I took this as a good sign because with every system I have had or heard, the louder it got the better it sounded, until it gets excessive and the room starts to vibrate and then distortion kicks in. My list of upgrades and their relative values is;
Worst...........................
- Russ Andrews socket, made no difference, but it had detoxit to help keep the connections clean (see below)
- Tidying the cables and keeping power away from signal cable, no difference
- Mains extension, minute, but it also has surge protection.
- Power cables, none on the amp, a little on the CDP
- Cleaning the contacts (see above) a little at the time of cleaning
- Interconnects, noticeable changes going through no brand, QED and Kimber
- Speaker stands, on their own a little, but filled and with blu tack and screws into the floor boards, noticeable
- Speaker cables, no brand, QED, Kimber, noticeable
- System stand, I was amazed that this made any difference at all, but it was very noticeable
- Attenuated interconnect, between CDP and amp, very noticeable with more volume control
- Mains conditioner, the RA Silencer, works with the TV as well, very noticeable, but more so in some houses than others
- MP3 128kbps to lossless, very noticeable
.........................best.
- PSU, have not tried that one yet.
Each one of those steps was small, but together they make a big difference. There is no doubt that the biggest upgrades are where kit is changed and better CDPs, amps, speakers etc are added. But I also think that you have to spend more money on such an upgrade to get a difference than the above, some of which are very cheap.
I would also say that outwith changing the kit, £150 is the most that any upgrade should cost and beyond that diminishing marginal utility kicks in big style. So a £400 stand or mains conditioner will be a tiny advance of the equivalent at £150 or less.
What say you?
Worst...........................
- Russ Andrews socket, made no difference, but it had detoxit to help keep the connections clean (see below)
- Tidying the cables and keeping power away from signal cable, no difference
- Mains extension, minute, but it also has surge protection.
- Power cables, none on the amp, a little on the CDP
- Cleaning the contacts (see above) a little at the time of cleaning
- Interconnects, noticeable changes going through no brand, QED and Kimber
- Speaker stands, on their own a little, but filled and with blu tack and screws into the floor boards, noticeable
- Speaker cables, no brand, QED, Kimber, noticeable
- System stand, I was amazed that this made any difference at all, but it was very noticeable
- Attenuated interconnect, between CDP and amp, very noticeable with more volume control
- Mains conditioner, the RA Silencer, works with the TV as well, very noticeable, but more so in some houses than others
- MP3 128kbps to lossless, very noticeable
.........................best.
- PSU, have not tried that one yet.
Each one of those steps was small, but together they make a big difference. There is no doubt that the biggest upgrades are where kit is changed and better CDPs, amps, speakers etc are added. But I also think that you have to spend more money on such an upgrade to get a difference than the above, some of which are very cheap.
I would also say that outwith changing the kit, £150 is the most that any upgrade should cost and beyond that diminishing marginal utility kicks in big style. So a £400 stand or mains conditioner will be a tiny advance of the equivalent at £150 or less.
What say you?