what would you do?

MrSinghsStereo

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hello, i am new here and am now suffering from upgradeITUS.
my amp and speakers are £60k in total but my sources are less - £10k, £6k and £4k for the cd player / dac , turntable and streamer.
so do I upgrade the dac / transport to the £30 k mark eg a dcs rossini / ch precision or do I keep what I have and save for a rainy day?
I spend most time listening to cds, then vinyl, then streaming (hard drive or Tidal).
i guess the question is, will i get more out of my amp/speakers if I upgrade the sources.
 
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Welcome to the forum.

I suggest you post a picture of your system and tell us a bit about it, as your question could be mistaken for somebody writing simply for a bit of fun. As you’ve obviously not assembled a system like that via mail order, I am sure you’d must know several dealers willing to help you spend your money, if you’ve really no ideas of your own.

Hopefully it would be pretty obvious that any better source would benefit the end result.
 

Gonepostal

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In total your system costs 80k, no way you can have a decent system for that amount. Sell the lot and start again. You are going to need to spend 200k, minimum.

Give your local RS a call, see if they can help.
 

MrSinghsStereo

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Welcome to the forum.

I suggest you post a picture of your system and tell us a bit about it, as your question could be mistaken for somebody writing simply for a bit of fun. As you’ve obviously not assembled a system like that via mail order, I am sure you’d must know several dealers willing to help you spend your money, if you’ve really no ideas of your own.

Hopefully it would be pretty obvious that any better source would benefit the end result.
Hello , thanks for the message . Yes I should have posted a photo as the replies have been quite rude . I have uodated my signature with my set up and posted a photo.
I am happy with the sound but noticed a significant step up when I got the new speakers and wonder how much more I can get . I wanted to canvas forum opinions because dealers seem to confuse the issues - i guess the question i should have asked is what are the most important aspects of a rig - the sources, the speakers, room treatments, conditioners/cables, all the above etc
 
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Edbostan

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hello, i am new here and am now suffering from upgradeITUS.
my amp and speakers are £60k in total but my sources a mere £10k, £6k and £4k for the cd player / dac , turntable and streamer.
so do I upgrade the dac / transport to the £30 k mark eg a dcs rossini / ch precision or do I keep what I have and save for a rainy day?
I spend most time listening to cds, then vinyl, then streaming (hard drive or Tidal).
i guess the question is, will i get more out of my amp/speakers if I upgrade the sources.
You have professional gear and esoteric. I would suggest taking advantage of a dealer visiting your house and swap and change front ends to meet your liking. Looking at your budget it comes within the diminishing returns scenario.
 

MrSinghsStereo

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You have professional gear and esoteric. I would suggest taking advantage of a dealer visiting your house and swap and change front ends to meet your liking. Looking at your budget it comes within the diminishing returns scenario.
i used to believe in the diminishing returns argument until about 3 year ago. But since then I have found clear sonic upgrades when moving to higher end products for the same manufacturer. I also didnt follow the cables make a difference mantra but the differences are more noticeable in higher end gear. whether the prcices can be justified is another discussion however. unfortunately it has been very difficult for me to borrow the pricier dacs from dealers due to supply chain issues having a knock on effect. i think my original comment was probably poorly phrased. what i meant is whether the source or the speakers have the most impact.
 

twinkletoes

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I don't get the reply's here at all, you're all either rude, question what he has (i say he as the OP has Mr in there sig) or you're star-struck, one mans 100quid is another penny get over it.

It doesn't matter the cost of the system, though what he has I'm sure is lovely sounding though sadly nothing ill ever get to experiance.

The crux of the question is, will you notice a benefit in upgrading your source? basically yes. You have a quite heavy bias going to your amp and speakers and they're "probably" showing up sources a little.

I'd first put the money where you listen the most, think you said CD player, Im not even going to suggest brands as really don't know and im sure you have a far better person (dealer) that can do that for you. But the old rule of thumb was to spend far more on the source than amp or at least equal to.

BUT things are changing and CD players are easier than ever to produce and you might not notice that much difference. And much the same for DACs and especially streamers i certainly wouldn't throw money down that rabbit hole, that's more about software than anything. But it depends on what that last 10% means to you, only your wallet and heart can decide that.

If it were me though and I want to upgrade it would be in vinal setup the more the better and you'll always notice the difference. In my more humble setup even moving 100 quid up the ladder in cartridges bought a massive improvement.
 
I don't get the reply's here at all, you're all either rude, question what he has (i say he as the OP has Mr in there sig) or you're star-struck, one mans 100quid is another penny get over it.

It doesn't matter the cost of the system, though what he has I'm sure is lovely sounding though sadly nothing ill ever get to experiance.

The crux of the question is, will you notice a benefit in upgrading your source? basically yes. You have a quite heavy bias going to your amp and speakers and they're "probably" showing up sources a little.

I'd first put the money where you listen the most, think you said CD player, Im not even going to suggest brands as really don't know and im sure you have a far better person (dealer) that can do that for you. But the old rule of thumb was to spend far more on the source than amp or at least equal to.

BUT things are changing and CD players are easier than ever to produce and you might not notice that much difference. And much the same for DACs and especially streamers i certainly wouldn't throw money down that rabbit hole, that's more about software than anything. But it depends on what that last 10% means to you, only your wallet and heart can decide that.

If it were me though and I want to upgrade it would be in vinal setup the more the better and you'll always notice the difference. In my more humble setup even moving 100 quid up the ladder in cartridges bought a massive improvement.
I would agree, however I find it rather intriguing that someone can spend this much money on a system and not understand which components are most important.
for what it's worth, for me, it is source then speakers...
 
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MrSinghsStereo

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I'm not sure many here are in that league, though using the term 'mere' is unlikely to endear you to many I would suggest.
hello, i have amended the original post to remove" mere" , i was trying to frame the difference in price but perhaps should have phrased it better. i have thick skin so can handle the prejudice shown in the replies.
 
hello, i have amended the original post to remove" mere" , i was trying to frame the difference in price but perhaps should have phrased it better. i have thick skin so can handle the prejudice shown in the replies.
Good for you on both counts - though I'd hope none of them were prejudiced in the strict sense - that's not tolerated here. I still can't help you personally, though!
 
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MrSinghsStereo

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Apologies for my flippant comment Mr Singh, but surely you know that when spending that kind of money you need to visit a dealer or better still have one visit you with a few 'bits'..... either way, best of luck.
Thanks for your comment. I apologise for not framing the problem better. There is a school of thought that speakers are the most important because they are the last stage . And there are those who believe the source is most important. I guess I was a source guy but then flipped to a speaker guy and then amp / speaker. I have dealers in both camps and then some who are just trying to flog the gear with the higher margins. Its come to the stage that its harder to trust high end dealers and also since Covid its even harder for the dealers to loan me the gear - I had my amps/speakers on home loan for a month before buying but its next to impossible to borrow the DACS for home auditioning. Also, the dealers here don't stock multiple brands so it becomes a case of trying to borrow a dcs from one, an msb from another etc I was trying to canvass the approaches and experiences of others.
 
Thanks for your comment. I apologise for not framing the problem better. There is a school of thought that speakers are the most important because they are the last stage . And there are those who believe the source is most important. I guess I was a source guy but then flipped to a speaker guy and then amp / speaker. I have dealers in both camps and then some who are just trying to flog the gear with the higher margins. Its come to the stage that its harder to trust high end dealers and also since Covid its even harder for the dealers to loan me the gear - I had my amps/speakers on home loan for a month before buying but its next to impossible to borrow the DACS for home auditioning. Also, the dealers here don't stock multiple brands so it becomes a case of trying to borrow a dcs from one, an msb from another etc I was trying to canvass the approaches and experiences of others.
Whilst I fully understand your dilemma I think there are very few forum members who are fully conversant with equipment that is this costly and so would only be able to generalise in their comments.
 

Tinman1952

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Thanks for your comment. I apologise for not framing the problem better. There is a school of thought that speakers are the most important because they are the last stage . And there are those who believe the source is most important. I guess I was a source guy but then flipped to a speaker guy and then amp / speaker. I have dealers in both camps and then some who are just trying to flog the gear with the higher margins. Its come to the stage that its harder to trust high end dealers and also since Covid its even harder for the dealers to loan me the gear - I had my amps/speakers on home loan for a month before buying but its next to impossible to borrow the DACS for home auditioning. Also, the dealers here don't stock multiple brands so it becomes a case of trying to borrow a dcs from one, an msb from another etc I was trying to canvass the approaches and experiences of others.
With these pretty much 'reference level' components I would suggest the only way you could improve the listening experience is to focus on the speaker/room interface. Particularly sound reflections from those hard walls and the low sloping roof line.... 🙂
 

Gonepostal

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Thanks for your comment. I apologise for not framing the problem better. There is a school of thought that speakers are the most important because they are the last stage . And there are those who believe the source is most important. I guess I was a source guy but then flipped to a speaker guy and then amp / speaker. I have dealers in both camps and then some who are just trying to flog the gear with the higher margins. Its come to the stage that its harder to trust high end dealers and also since Covid its even harder for the dealers to loan me the gear - I had my amps/speakers on home loan for a month before buying but its next to impossible to borrow the DACS for home auditioning. Also, the dealers here don't stock multiple brands so it becomes a case of trying to borrow a dcs from one, an msb from another etc I was trying to canvass the approaches and experiences of others.
Personally I think speakers and your room play the most important part, then your source and lastly the amp.
 
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