Upgrade Advice Please

[chasefrench]

My current system is Music Fidelity X-Dac -> Cyrus 8vs & Cyrus 8 Power -> Quad 12L speakers.

Recently the DAC broke and I have agreed to sell on the speakers.

Therefore what I really need to know is, which is the better upgrade path?

1. Spendor A6s

or

2. Spendor SA1s + Benchmark DAC1

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated such as PSX-Rs etc.

Many Thanks in advance.

 

[audioaffair]

Welcome to the forum

I would suggest going for the best possible speakers will allow, and leaving the DAC to upgrade later if possible. The floorstanders will offer a deeper and grander sound, but I would suggest also auditioning the recent award winning ProAc Studio 140 as a possible alternative. You could then partner this with either a Musical Fidelity M1 DAC if budget permits or Musical Fidelity VDAC as a temporary solution and upgrade the DAC later.

 

[chasefrench]

Even if now that my DAC is broken, my source will be Flac files through an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card. The Asus is a phenominally good product for the money but it won't be good enough for the A6s.

If I decided to stretch my budget a bit and go for the A6s and a cheaper DAC such as the Rega, will the rega be good enough for the rest of the components?

My first choice is def the A6s, but I m not sure about getting them if the rest of the components are not good enough to hear the difference between the SA1's and the A6s

 

[chasefrench]

An
Anyone else got any thoughts?

 

[CnoEvil]

A while back I demoed both these speakers at a dealer, and to my surprise prefered the SA1. I took them home to try, and found they were overwhelmed by the size of the room, so back they went.

IMO The SA1 sound fantastic in the right sized room so the standerd advice applies - home demo essential.

 

[chasefrench]

Unfortunately home demo is not a choice in Hong Kong. However, I have a small room so there is no chance of space being a problem for the SA1. Would it be an issue using the A6s in a smallish room. I think it is maybe 3M by 6M? Obviously the room size will get bigger in the future.

 

[CnoEvil]

Unfortunately home demo is not a choice in Hong Kong. However, I have a small room so there is no chance of space being a problem for the SA1. Would it be an issue using the A6s in a smallish room. I think it is maybe 3M by 6M? Obviously the room size will get bigger in the future.

It may depend on the room - is it sparcely furnished, with laminate floors and lots of glass (bad).... or carpets/rugs with soft furnishings, curtains and bookshelves (better).