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Weak link

Hi all, I am relatively new to this world, and I have a question which, accordingly, might seem easy to answer to some. At least I hope.

My set-up is the following:
Onkyo HT-RC360
Carver A500x
Mirage M1
cables : from Carver to M1 : blue jean AWG10, biwired.

Onkyo -> Carver : this is a bit unorthodox, but I use a speaker to line level converter and generic cables to connect the converter to the carver.

While I really like the sound coming from this system, which is an improvement over having the Onkyo driving the M1 directly, I am found wanting in terms of high-frequency details coming from the speakers.

I read that the carvers deliver in general in terms of power, but not in terms of details, could it be the main culprit?

The other route is to get a preamplifier (any recommendations for this setup?) I am sure there are many weak links in this setup, but I am not quite sure which upgrade would yield the most audible improvement.

Thanks to all!
dalig
dalig OP
11 posts
 
Thanks all for your input. I have been looking around, and I see basically three ways I could go with this budget:

vintage tube gear: eg. arc sp2, or heathkit sp2 that are 25+ years old

new SS preamp : e.g. emotiva usp1

new chinese manufactured tube preamp: I had my eyes on the tubemagic d1 and tubedac11. (these also include a DAC, and have analog+digital inputs)

In terms of sound quality, is there an obvious winner among the three?
rlwainwright
1,901 posts
 
You could snag a brand new Emotiva USP-1 preamp for less than $400 delivered to your door:

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/processors/products/usp1

This preamp has gotten very good reviews and Emo backs it up with a 30 day trial policy and a 5-year transferable warranty...

-RW-
rleff
1,065 posts
 
good advice from R1wainwright
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