Power cord for MHDT Havana


My system
Paradigm S4(fronts)
Rel Strata III sub
B&K 7270 200X7 amp
B&K ref30 preamp
Blue jeans cables ( interconnects)
Speaker cables (Blue jeans)
Transport Technics SL MC7(12 year old)
Recently purchased MHDT HAVANA.

No After market power cords purchased or tested yet.

It has been probably 150 hours of MHDT havana, while doing A & B switching, I dont see significant difference in the sound quality between with or without the DAC. I saw the bigger difference when I removed the grills from the speakers.

Now My question is what could get me best improvement from here on.

Let me know your opinions.

Thanks
Sandhya
sandhya
Well, I have strongly agree with Mingles. There is something in your system (or room/setup) that is not allowing it to show its full potential. I recommend doing a little experiment; pick up an inexpensive passive preamp (e.g., creek, CI)-even better if you can borrow one, and see what happens when you take the B&K preamp out of the chain. That might be your answer, or if not, move you one step closer to the cause. Good luck!
I tried to connect it to Computer using a USB cable. I didnt like it at all. It was lot worse than now.

I am out of budget right now. For the DAC I spent close to $1000, Dont see much improvement.

May be I need to learn about listening tests. How they need to be done. Can you suggest any reading material related to it.

I dont have any room treatment done. My house is built with Brick and cement and not wood. It is a rigid structure.

ROom treatment is difficult subject, hard to understand and predict.

My room is 17 X 13 X 10 fts.

One other thing I am contemplating is change the interconnects or Power cords. Havenot decided on any of them. These are also pretty expensive.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks
Pandu
Quite strange you're not hearing much of a difference with the Havana, I noticed a difference between my cd player and an inexpensive dac like the Maverick. Granted my cd player is a POS but the techincs your using isn't exactly reference material either, the rest of your gear isn't too slouchy though and you should definitely hear a difference. Are you sure there isn't some type of setting on your pre that may be bypassing the havana somehow? If not try swapping out or borrowing another pre and then experiment with another cd player. It's all process of elimination. FWIW I don't think a PC is going to make much of a difference. Good luck
Sandhya,

It might be your room and setup. It sounds like you have no treatment whatsoever done, amd your room might have a lot of hard surfaces.

I've been reading A LOT about acoustics and its's paying off nicely. Without changing my electronics or cables I'm getting a lot better sound. It is true it's time consuming and oftentimes confusing/frustrating, but it does pay off. And is so cheap compared to upgrades (especially if you DIY).

Try reading some. Many websites with info. Real Traps sells stuff and also has info in it's website. Also Ethan Winer, Real Traps owner, has info online. Maybe try: http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

I hope this helps!
Lewinski,

I guess you put it right. I need to work on the room treatment. It is altogether a different subject. I will start going thru material and start working on each of the components.

For example My floor is made of smooth marble. I have covered 30% of it with thick carpet. Rest we have some openspaces and some furniture. I will first try to carpet the whole room and see the improvement.

Thanks
Sandhya