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Best significant upgrade? Dac? Preamp?

Hi guys!

Im hoping some of you with knowledge of my system can help me make a good decision about my next upgrade.
I would like a surprising and obvious difference not hard to spot subtle change.
From my research i think the next move should be the Dac.
I would like to explore DSD,i have some SACDs now.
my system:
Mark Levinson 320s preamp
(Would i see a difference with a ML no.52?) I am also looking at the no.52 ,would i see a big difference compared to the 320s? Worth the extra $$ ?
interconnects: Acoustic Research master series silver high definition RG6
ML 431 amp
XLR: +bo ? +ba ? Only info on them

Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 5.1 speakers (serie 7 tweeters) +transparent music wave plus cables
Arcam rdac (wifi) with Teddy Pardo power supply.
Running on mac air (usb) ,Tidal HIFI
(i currently listen most of the time to this vs rarely SACD).
Thanks!



128x128nicsaudio
johnziomas's avatar
johnziomas
40 posts
 
C_S, is your USB input on your DAC asynchronous?  Auralic doesn't have USB out if I remember correctly, wondering why going Digital USB from the Mini to Digital coax/toshlink from the Auralic would make such a difference.  Thanks
sbank's avatar
sbank
2,038 posts
 
To paraphrase Bill Clinton, "It's the room, stupid". If you love your speakers, working on room acoustics & setup will give you the most dramatic improvement. Cheers,
Spencer
Ag insider logo xs@2x
c_s
15 posts
 
Hi johnziomas, the Gungnir dac has async USB and the  Auralic Aries Mini has a usb dac out.  The Aries Mini usb out is significantly better than both my (c. 2008) mac mini usb out and sonos coax out (which sounded quite different from each other, btw)  To me it just sounds more like music: less harsh, more tonally balanced , more detailed and with better layering and imaging.  Even my wife noted the improvement (fairly rare) As to why, I can only speculate. I only thought to try it because of the interest around this sort of thing on the forums (computer audiophile, DAR, etc)  At any rate it solved some long standing issues that I'd been trying to address through preamps, DACs, cabling, tubes, etc., wish I would've looked into it sooner.        
johnziomas's avatar
johnziomas
40 posts
 
thanks for the feedback, contemplating between mini, auralic, and Bluesound..
sbank's avatar
sbank
2,038 posts
 
@c_s Your comments echo my experiences after moving to a Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC. I also found that moving from a MacMini as music server to a dedicated audio streamer/renderer (in my case Sonore microRendu) adds another big improvement.

Digital audio is much closer to top analog than ever IMHO. These changes have taken me from 90%/10% analog listening a few years ago to more like 60%/40% now. I can finally listen to digital and not be reminded that I am listening to digital. That is a big breakthrough for me. Cheers,
Spencer
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