Advise please for best system upgrade under $2,000

You may consider room treatments and dedicated lines before any component upgrade as this will give you more than a component upgrade IMO. Happy Holidays

The most important component is the room. Spend your $2000 on treating the room and getting the acoustics correct. Add tube traps and RPG diffusers. This change will make a much bigger improvement than any component change.

Ejlif did make a good suggestion with the wadia...however some point need to be made.

1. will the wadia work or be to your liking with your gear ?( aaudition is needed) if it does...then you are ahead of the game. wadia gear is high resolution/detailed and not romantic in any way.

2. do you need preamp function ?

3.where are the tubes ? maggies do really, really well on tubes. your 2.7's are FANTASTIC speakers ( the ribbons are awesome)...

the marantz sa-8260 i cd/sacd only..and it does those formats very, very well. considering the price tag, you would be hard pressed to find a class A "digital" player for less...( the cd is within 95% of the sacd- it is that good)

in regards to cables....hummm....i would suggest rethinking your budget or breaking it up in a short term/long term goal...$2k for know (cd/pre) and $1.5k for cables over the long run..

the bat vk30 is a awesome unit..very musical...the only downside is it take 6-6922/7308 tubes..so finding that many high quality tubes (ie nos premiums) can be a chore. there are plenty regular 6dj8's and 6922 replacements out there but the really nice ones go for big $$$.

it is not that cables are expensive. it is that good cables are expensive. believe it or not $1.5k for total system cabling is cheap, and the differnce is like to changing a componenet.

here are some cable suggestions..(based on 2-1 meter lengths ic and 8 foot speaker and 3-6 foot pc's)

interconnects- discovery plus 4(slightly warm) or cardas neutral(neutral) or sraightwire serenade(big sound with bass). feel free to mix mix them up and try in different positions. they will run $150 (discovery),$175(serenade), $225 for the cardas nr...forgot to mention coincedent- $175 pair.

speaker cables-humm....comes down to taste, system synergy, and budget....i would look at xlo type 5a. it is a older cable but neutral with a tight, full sounding bass..( about $300-$350 used) or cardas neutral reference about $350 used.

so far , the cable projection budget is at $375 for ic's and $350 for speaker cables which is $725...not bad.. but power cords are needed and are often overlooked...they make a HUGE difference and account for smearing and tonal variations.. would look at synergistic research or audience..each one is $250 a cord and 3 cords are needed....so you are now at $1500 for cabling which is pretty good..

btw, i am in favor room treatments but if needed..your maggies are a really, really great speaker and deserve the best equipment and cabling you can afford....would suggest room treatment if needed after the transformation..btw, the maggies are pretty sensitive to placement... they have to be mirrored within 1/8" to do their mojo

hope that helps and sorry to blow the overall budget. but the end result with a little synergy will be a very musical experience.

good luck,

mike

Add a DAC to your transport...recommendations can range from a Scott Dixon Tubed DAC unit or other similar. It will be practically a new CD sound with the DAC aspect difference. Cost: $500.

Add a tubed preamp. The best I would be able to recommend is a First Sound Presence Deluxe. The earlier MKI models go for around 1-1.5K. They take just a pair of 6922 tubes or equivalent, much easier to outfit than the mentioned BAT 30K and they also take a pair of O2A tubes which last for up to 10 year. The sound is astonishing even in comparison to the other heavy weights. It can compare easily to ny AR, LAMM, CAT and of course BAT. BTW, it has a separate heavy weight power supply.

If you want and can stretch your budget, you can always buy a MKI and have it become the latest MKII or buy an used MKII for about 2.5K.

The transport replacement issue, is a non issue, the Sony you have have been known as an excellent transport ever since and are now becoming more popular than ever.

I had used a Panasonic DVD player as a transport originally with a Bel Canto DAC-1.0 and now switched to a dedicated 47 Labs Shigaraki Transport and a Bel Canto DAC 2.0....to be honest, cannot tell too much of a difference. The DAC I believe will be the component that will be the best investment in terms of Digital front end.

I have found the preamp to be the most important part of a system and think that getting a nice tubed preamp would benefit you the most. A c-j Premiere 14, BAT VK5i or VK30, or something else would give you more warmth but also probably better detail. And since every source would be run into it, every source would benefit. Thank about it.