The One Best Hi-Fi Thing You've Bought or Changed.

[WayneKerr]

Not really a single item... more of a realisation and an awakening.

Always had stereo systems but only really got into hifi in the last 10 years. Prior to this I don't think I'd ever heard a "sitting in the sweet-spot" true stereo image in my life, music had only ever been a background/mood-related interest for me.

Researching after the purchase of my entry-level system in 2012 I came across things like Cardas, Golden Ratio, and Fibonacci for speaker placement... that's when the magic started and the hifi bug bit me hard! And I initially joined this forum in search of knowledge from guys who had far more experience than I

After two upgrades I think I now have a set-up which will hopefully see me through the rest of days. At each upgrade there has been an improvement, but none as stellar as the final set of components I now have. Marantz make good gear and I have no room to complain, all the kit performs far better than anything else I have ever heard.

Worthy mentions also to Nagaoka, Harbeth, and Sennheiser. All these have ended my search for anything better, so upgraditis is now, hopefully, a thing of the past. Harbeth P3's may be small but they do everything so well, including bass. The Senn 800S sound just like my speakers, and Nagaoka suits my ears perfectly.

I may have missed-out on the journeys some of you guys have taken and the experience gained from those journeys, but I'm more of a M-road lover than a B-road rally-driver... I like to get to my final destination quickly and with the minimum dead-ends

 

[bigfish786]

Considering the cheapest currently available is around £4000 I wish you luck.

Yeah. They aren’t cheap. But it should be my final ever cd player,
I like a challenge of finding a great deal. I got a fantastic deal on the amp. 😊

 

[clanking]

Not that I know much about lots of different things, but the thing that's improved my setup the most has been my new Audiolab 6000a.

I had a NAD C320BEE from 2002 until a few years ago when it died. Since then I've been using a dirt cheap AV receiver and had got out of hifi and music listening other than with headphones. Now getting back in to it I've re-ripped all my CDs to flac files instead of mp3, which made a decent difference. Then I replaced my cheap DAC for straight in optical cables, which also helped. But replacing the receiver with a proper stereo amp has made a dramatic difference. Its balance and clarity is far better even than my old NAD.

Its a bigger difference than when I swapped my old Mission M73 floor standers with Wharfedale Pacific Evo 40's.

It's letting me enjoy lots of old music I haven't heard for a long time again. Or letting me hear anew familiar favorites.

 

[HarropMV]

First Purchase into hifi was a Mcintosh 4100. I was hooked.

 

[twinkletoes]

Not that I know much about lots of different things, but the thing that's improved my setup the most has been my new Audiolab 6000a.

I had a NAD C320BEE from 2002 until a few years ago when it died. Since then I've been using a dirt cheap AV receiver and had got out of hifi and music listening other than with headphones. Now getting back in to it I've re-ripped all my CDs to flac files instead of mp3, which made a decent difference. Then I replaced my cheap DAC for straight in optical cables, which also helped. But replacing the receiver with a proper stereo amp has made a dramatic difference. Its balance and clarity is far better even than my old NAD.

Its a bigger difference than when I swapped my old Mission M73 floor standers with Wharfedale Pacific Evo 40's.

It's letting me enjoy lots of old music I haven't heard for a long time again. Or letting me hear anew familiar favorites.

Those M73 speakers were very very good speakers and give many speakers today a run for there money. Not really surprised the upgraded wasn't night and day

 

[clanking]

Those M73 speakers were very very good speakers and give many speakers today a run for there money. Not really surprised the upgraded wasn't night and day

I found the M73's to be very harsh in the treble so listening for any length of time wasn't pleasent. There was a night and day difference between them and the Wharfedales, which are much easier on the ear and I've kept for about 18 years now. The difference just wasn't as big as the amp upgrade.

 

[twinkletoes]

For me it was a number of things, large really efficient speakers coupled with a class-A amp and top-draw dac. I've given up chasing power it's expensive

the dynamics are addictive everything else when i hear it is just dull by comparisons. Im not really 3d sound type of guy (don't have the room to achieve properly TBH) but I do like a rock-solid phantom centre. Texture and timing is more my thing.

Like @WayneKerr this system has stopped all the upgrading.... Adding is a different story

 

[twinkletoes]

I found the M73's to be very harsh in the treble so listening for any length of time wasn't pleasent. There was a night and day difference between them and the Wharfedales, which are much easier on the ear and I've kept for about 18 years now. The difference just wasn't as big as the amp upgrade.

That was just the mission sound back then, in your face and unrelenting, partnered with a NAD would have really lent into that type of sound. I had the bigger brothers M74's and the same amp it was certainly an edge-of-seat listen, though i love that "live" sound . Wharfdales are "woolly" by comparison ( meaning nothing by that) making them easier to live with that's for sure.