cal. audio ikon mkII power boss upgrade

No Money: I forgot one thing. I tried a borrowed set (3) of Black Diamond cones and did not like the sound on the CAl. It made the sound kind of brittle and out of balance (quite an achievment on the stock CAL). I mentioned it to a dealer and he asked me which set I used. I din't know, but he told me that there was a major difference between #2 and #3 or between #3 and #4 (can't remember) for what I was using them for and that I had probably used the wrong model. I don't know if this is the case or not since I have not tried any other models. I can find out which ones I used this weekend and will post that info. It is interesting (to me anyway) that your preamp is also on my hit list though I have not heard it, noted as "classic" tube sound. I have made a list of tube preamps from the threads at this site in the case that I decide to go whole hog when our finances losen up a bit.

I found the CJ pre-amp IMO to be the best money I have spent in the system yet. Well.... the amp too but it cost 3x what the pre amp did, so I expected it to perform.

No Money: Cannot get a hold of the person that loaned me the racing cones. Mute point anyway as I am sure that you know what you are doing with them. I just purchased a MF X gear power amp yesterday so I am one step closer to going with a tube preamp. For now though I will play with a bi-amp setup using the little X-A1 for the top end. Another member here that has been there and done it suggested going with a good DAC. I think that they are right though it would be nice to get another player or transport.