I would get rid of any Cardas in the system once and for all. Then probably the arm.
if you had my system and $2,000 budgeted for an upgrade, where would you spend it?
This post may go a bit beyond analog, as it could encompass other parts of the system, but I am not interested in adding to the digital side of things, so here it is.
As far as I can tell, it seems like the places to spend that $2K would be on a better tonearm or perhaps a preamplifier upgrade. I may be able to sell my Audio Research LS-25 and upgrade to ARC Ref 3. As for the tonearm, I could sell the RB202 and get a Michell Tecnoarm, or step it up to an arm for about $1600 (are the Clearaudio arms nice?) and still have a little left over.
Can a tonearm upgrade make a significant sonic improvement?
I am not dying to spend money on an upgrade, and if the benefit of that $2K will be minuscule, I am happy to stay as I am for a while, my system sounds excellent. But I am curious to know what the experienced people on this site would do the the $2K if they were in my shoes.
Where is the most improvement possible?
Thanks!
Mark
System Gear List:
Amplifier: Audio Research VT-100 mkII
Preamplifier: Audio Research LS-25
Phono Stage: Whest Audio PS.30R
Cartridge: Lyra Delos
Table: Michell Engineering Tecnodec with standard RB202 tonearm
DAC: PS Audio PerfectWave DAC mkII
Power Conditioner: Shunyata Research Talos
Speakers: Rockport Technologies Mira Monitors
Subwoofer: Wisdom Audio SCS
Speaker Cable: Cardas Audio Cross
Interconnect: Cardas Audio 300B Microtwin XLR
Digital Music Storage & Player: Apple Mac Mini + ROON + Hard Drive
Power Cables: Shunyata Research Venom HC (amp, sub, conditioner)
Power Cables: Shunyata Research Sidewinder VTX (sources)
My system can be seen here: https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/5421
As far as I can tell, it seems like the places to spend that $2K would be on a better tonearm or perhaps a preamplifier upgrade. I may be able to sell my Audio Research LS-25 and upgrade to ARC Ref 3. As for the tonearm, I could sell the RB202 and get a Michell Tecnoarm, or step it up to an arm for about $1600 (are the Clearaudio arms nice?) and still have a little left over.
Can a tonearm upgrade make a significant sonic improvement?
I am not dying to spend money on an upgrade, and if the benefit of that $2K will be minuscule, I am happy to stay as I am for a while, my system sounds excellent. But I am curious to know what the experienced people on this site would do the the $2K if they were in my shoes.
Where is the most improvement possible?
Thanks!
Mark
System Gear List:
Amplifier: Audio Research VT-100 mkII
Preamplifier: Audio Research LS-25
Phono Stage: Whest Audio PS.30R
Cartridge: Lyra Delos
Table: Michell Engineering Tecnodec with standard RB202 tonearm
DAC: PS Audio PerfectWave DAC mkII
Power Conditioner: Shunyata Research Talos
Speakers: Rockport Technologies Mira Monitors
Subwoofer: Wisdom Audio SCS
Speaker Cable: Cardas Audio Cross
Interconnect: Cardas Audio 300B Microtwin XLR
Digital Music Storage & Player: Apple Mac Mini + ROON + Hard Drive
Power Cables: Shunyata Research Venom HC (amp, sub, conditioner)
Power Cables: Shunyata Research Sidewinder VTX (sources)
My system can be seen here: https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/5421
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- 56 posts total
Low rider, That is a good observation. I bought all of the Cardas 300B ICs as I needed a decent amount of cables, I and I couldn't spend 8-10 grand on cables. I figured these would be a good entry level into high-fi cables. At $200-$300 a pair, these were affordable (in the insane hi-fi world anyway) and I thought would be a huge step above $10 garbage, and hopefully a big step above Best Buy stuff. Can I get a big boost from improving the IC for any one source component? Or do I have to also upgrade the amp, pre, and sub? |
I replaced my tonearm wiring and my speaker binding posts with Cardas ... and the improvement was quite nice. Mark ... I wasn't kidding about the fuses. And I'm not the only one. Check this thread out: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/synergistic-red-fuse |
- 56 posts total