I can't really hear a big difference

I don't think that the differences in digital are that large. My Perp Tech trio with sony DV7000 transport was a significant upgrade over my old arcam player, but overall, I think differences in up to date digital products are small.
Bill

Bob knows. Also, most good equipment takes at least 3 days to warm up and sometimes a couple of weeks to really roll. The real test will be switching back out after 3 weeks listening. That should really tell you. Good luck. Congrats on the VTL.

well, the ICs i'm using are pretty generic. Audio research, I think the brand is... cost $25 or so. i have a pair of silver ICs coming to me in the mail, but they're not here yet. I'll see what happens when I add them.

yeh, i'm guilty of not listening to it first, but i don't have a dealer who will loan me out equipment. the sound is different, but i'm not necessarily sure that the sound is all that much better... i mean, it's much more subjective. the change in amp was DEFINITELY better... no one would say otherwise.

i'm amazed that the unit retails for 6K... that's 20 times the amount of my cd changer. 20 times!

i'm going to wait for the ICs, listen for a couple weeks, and if i can't justify the expense, i'll hopefully be able to sell it for what i paid, or close to it...

this has been very interesting though... changes in digital equipment don't seem to mean much, even in a system with relatively revealing speakers.

I believe the BAT is full of tubes. Maybe they are worn out? Changing tubes can make a huge difference.

I'll add my $.02, for what it's worth, in what I've learned over the last 3 years or so (a "newbie") in this field. Sometimes it IS about the little things, maybe (as some have pointed out) which applies to digital. I had an Audio Note DAC that sound a "little" better than my McIntosh MCD 7008. I thought, "what the hell, why have this" and sold it. Boy did I miss it. Point being, it might be a little better now, but when you don't have it anymore, you might notice it was was the "little" things that you liked! IMHO.

John