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Possible Upgrade

Hi-

A buddy of mine recommended your site. I'm possibly looking to upgrade my system and wanted to get some thoughts. The current system consists of a Carver TFM-45 amp with a Carver C-5 Pre-amp/tuner. I listen to some vinyl on my old Harmon Kardon straight line turntable. Just about everythi9ng else is Pandora or FLAC tracks using my Sonos .Speakers are Definitive Technology RLSII's. I have a Paradigm subwoofer also in the mix.  Speakers are non negotiable - I'm married and the wife won't go for anything else. Would I notice much of a difference if I were to say swap out the Carver to a McIntosh 6300 -6500? I'm looking for something mainstream that won't break the bank. Thoughts or suggestions would be welcome!


Thanks

malibupacific
tomcarr
530 posts
 
You are certainly welcome.
This hobby isn't known for much common sense, but the best advice I read years ago when you've become unhappy with your system is to:
Take a sabbatical. Don't listen to your system for at least a month or more. Listen to bad PA systems, bad car systems, friend's bad systems, "normal" people's junk, bad systems...
Remember how bad they all sounded.
Turn on your system, let it warm up, sit back, relax.
It might surprise you how good it sounds!

Tom

hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,611 posts
 
In other words, absence makes...
roberjerman
2,086 posts
 
Pandora is a low-quality digital source! I'd avoid it and get a subscription to Tidal. And a better DAC (used), of course! Ditch the equalizer and sub. Equalizers just screw-up the phase (time) response. Most music has too little information below 30-35 hz to make a sub necessary! The Carver electronics are dated but acceptable. Speakers are a weak link here! I'd replace them with a pair of the newer Ohm Walsh's. Superior 3-d imaging from anywhere in your room!
roberjerman
2,086 posts
 
Too bad you don't have a nice CD collection! I'd recommend a good used player. I prefer that over streaming! With streaming you never know the provenance of the recording (how close to the master source it came from).
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 
For digital sources such as streaming from Tidal, Spotify, etc., I think you’ll get that extra “pop” if you add something like a Bluesound Node2 ($500) and a subscription to Tidal HiFi service ($20/month). Start there and see if that meets your needs. It’s hard (and not wise) to try to compensate for a poor source by adding better electronics downstream in the system. My experience.
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