Hopefully in one month, money will be available for vinyl and dac improvement

scottyboy76

It will all dpend on the cash out refi on our house comi9ng out on oct.1st and the extra cash available if all works out as i hope, but i hope to upgrade one or both.

I sort of have a leg up on both, as i have a rega rp1 running thru a jolida jd9, into a sonic frontiers sfl1 and a CARVER tfm 25, connected with cinnamon ics and some good speker wires, sorry, cant remwmber the make as im drunk as hell, and i apologize, but it seemas alcohol sometimes is the only way to forget and sleep well.

What i was wondering, would a Dac that for me would cost a good chunk, a TT that would be a step up, or what, as I know there are other improvements to be be made.

I have a good selection of cds, althouh not many sacds, also a lot of dearly beloved LPs, such as TEJAS by ZZ top that im listening to right now, If you have never listened to aleep in the desert, i urge you.

Any advice on incrementel steps on vinyl or dac cd improvement on a budget would be greatly appreciated.

scott and deb

soundfreak1

Imho and experience an external DAC ( a good one, not necessarly expencive one) will make more inpact to the sound of vertually any cdp under 5/8 grand! Wont do anything foe SACD'S as not usable for them.but for redbooks, a fantastic upgrade.I prefer vintage moded and updated over new. Just due to little tech improvements in dac's over the years considering the prices for good ones.a vintage updated can keep up with or out perform new highend for a lot less money. The right one can simply raise the sound quality of your system too new levels. The same can be said of a great cartridge for your TT, except cost on a really good cartridge can get very high very fast.

TNHNDYMAN

It's hard to beat the DacMagic for the money. Dan loves his. I'm using a Peachtree Audio DACiT which is comparable for similar expense. I've been very happy with it. Good to see you still around Scott. Crazy at home and need to catch up with you soon.

doctor r

The source is always the foundation of good sound. Certainly a good DAC is going to elevate your digital front end. The question should be which source do you use most vinyl or digital? If your are spinning vinyl more than using the digital front end focus on that path, if the opposite is true then the DAC should be to improvement goal to look at. You have a nice phono pre, but don't state what cartridge you have on the RP1. In analog an improved cartridge can be definitely effect your sound, but there is a limit before you have to consider moving to a better TT with an improved quality tonearm is your first step. Then improvements can be incremental over time with changes in the cartridge.

scottyboy76

sorry its taken so long to respond, thanks for all the advice.

As for cart, it came with the RP1s upgrade package, its the rega bias 2.

I have been told denon has some nice carts in the 3-500 dollar range that would be a big improvement.

I listen to both formats equally, and i dont think I will be getting a hell of a lot of sacds because of cost, but Im intrigued by the quality digital file subscription services out there, and if a dac can improve those and my cd music, thats a definite plus for dacs.

Also as far as modded dacs, any advice on what or where to look for those, i really would not know what was a really good upgrade and what was a bonfire waiting to happen.