2. analog
  3. 124749-22604

I'm happy but I want more, more, more

My system is a Clearaudio Performance SE table, Clearaudio Stradivari cartridge, ARC PH5, Conrad Johnson et3 se pre, and a Classe CA-2200 amp running a pair of Thiel 3.6. Speaker cables are Cardas Golden Cross and interconnects are Cardas Clear Refection. Now, to upgrade the pre to a Conrad Johnson ACT 2 series 2 or an ARC Ref 3 will cost me about $3500-4000 CAD, as will an upgrade to a ARC PH-8 phonostage. Any opinions regarding which upgrade, pre or phonostage, will yield the greatest jump in performance are appreciated. BTW, no talk about upgrading speakers and leaving Thiel as that costs real money and countless therapy sessions.
bill10907
lewm
6,770 posts
 
QED

rlawry
414 posts
 
bill10907:  I was on the merry-go-round myself for about 40 years.  I tried at least 10 power amps, both tubed and solid-state, 5 preamps, who knows how many speakers, some up to $42K with ion tweeters and spherical horn midrange, 3 turntables, 2 arms, 3 cartridges, 2 subwoofers, and a plethora of cables, some up to $20K for a pair of speaker cables.  A few years back I discovered do-it-yourself products and now have single-driver speakers in homemade cabinets and High Fidelity Cables.  Nothing I had before even touched what I have now and I am off the merry-go-round.  Just something to think about.  Good luck with your endeavour.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
rlawry, Great post. That's exactly what I was trying to get across to the OP.  Not that his audio Nirvana will necessarily be the same as yours or mine.

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rauliruegas
9,123 posts
 
Dear @bill10907 ::   You posted:   """  I'm happy but I want more, more, more.... """

I'm sure that almost all of us want " more,more,more " but these " more " could be totally diferent for each one of us.

In my case and before I post my advice/opinion as the other gentlemans that posted here I would like to know:

- More, where? where do you think your system is not " complete/perfect "? what do you want to have " more "?  which are the system areas that you " discovery " some system's weaks?  and please which are your music/sound priorities?

Maybe to many questions but with that information could be more easy that you can recieve  better advises. Remember that every single audio system can be up dated, the subject is as you posted: where? and for that answer we need to know what you are listening or what you are not listening in your today set up.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
moonglum
605 posts
 

Yes, it's the old computer adage, "garbage in, garbage out".

What is lost at the beginning cannot be recreated at the end. Not that $2.5K is an unreasonable spend on a tonearm and turntable but these days that seems to get you an MDF chassis that has more in common with a kitchen worktop than a serious piece of audio equipment.

Granted some of them have constrained layer alum outer sheets but even these have been shown to warp under duress or humidity. Contrast this with a continuous path CNC machined billet of aluminium several inches thick. Unfortunately in analogue you get what you pay for and it's usually easy to see where the money goes. (Not that I would normally advocate spending money for the sake of it). Sadly we are not all millionaires and the best analogue is rapidly becoming a rich man's hobby  - which vindicates the ethos of RLawry. Kudos to him for being bold enough to take that course.

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