David, since late last year, I have heard two systems that are much more resolving than my own. One of these is an out-of-state dealer and the other is a local audiophile. Both of these systems render detail that makes one stand up and pay attention.
My system on the other hand conveys a 3-dimensionality and intrumental presence which brings on a much different emotional response. However, for all of this, I pay a small price in a higher noise floor and thus ultimately a loss in detail. To me this is a small price to pay. As with a system at any price point, it comes down to personal preferences.
When I look to "upgrade" my system, my biggest concern is to not lose any of the strengths that it has today. It's not so much an issue of synergy but rather to improve upon what I have and to not give up one thing for another. This is what makes the quest for improvement not so quick and easy..
When system improvements bring on other sonic attributes such as greater dynamic contrasts, more tonal coherency, etc., once one gets used to these refinements as well, they too become very hard to give up when an interest to upgrade comes along. The key is to retain a balance in each of these qualities as opposed to focus too much on one factor.
Besides the higher noise floor of my preamp, another reason why I suspect my system does not compete with the other mentioned two systems' resolution is my cabling. I like the NBS Statement very much as it does a phenomenol job to convey space and decays. But it gives way to other cables in ultra resolution.
There's so much focus on tonality of cables....that people use them as "tone" controls. Cables make a far greater difference in other areas as the system becomes more and more refined.
When swapping the Nordost Vahalla to NBS Statement in a local audiophile's system, I found the sound to immediately be more rich and full; there was clearly more dimension to the instruments. But there was a definite loss in subtle details at the very top that the Nordost conveyed quite impressively. The differences were not subtle and yet with either cable, the system was incredibly musical. Adding a second NBS into the system made things larger than life and also removed too much of the fine details in the music. In this case, one could argue that it is a synergy issue but I think of it more it's a balancing act that results in a matter of personal preference.
One past experience with trying out some cables between the line stage and amp was that I could immediately reduce the quality of the system to a point where the whole presentation was flat, lifeless and one-dimensional; I had no interest to listen at all. Yes, the "wrong" cable in just this one link can very easily destroy the sound of a top-notch system....trial and error indeed.
John
