Most bang for buck upgrade?
Comments
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Most bang for the buck.
I replaced the brass jumpers that came on my speakers with Furez 10AWG. $5 in wire made a big difference.When I was a kid my parents told me to turn it down. Now I'm an adult and my kids tell me to turn it down.
Family Room:LG QNED80 75", Onkyo RZ50 Emotiva XPA3 GEN3 Oppo BDP-93,Sony UBP-X800BM. Main: Polk LsiM 705Center: Polk LSiM 704CFront High/Rear High In-Ceiling Polk 80F/X RT Surrounds: Polk S15 Sub: HSU VTF3-MK5
Bed Room; Marantz SR5010, BDP-S270Main: Polk Signature S20Center: Polk Signature S35Rear: Polk R15 Sub: SVS SB2000
Working Warehouse; Yamaha A-S301, Sony DVP-NS3100ES for disc Plok TSX550T SVS PB2000 Mini tower PC with 400GB of music -
1-Bob Brines designed folded, tapered mass-loaded TQWTs loaded with the venerable Radio Shack 40-1354 twincones. Amazing DIY speakers for less than a hundred bucks.
2- Pass Amp Camp Amp
3- Roonb]Beach Audio[/b]: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Topping D90iii * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet -
In honour of Jesse, my MIT avt cables.
The biggest bang was going 5.1 to 2.1. Which made me change everything in my system. -
proper pre for 2-channel
My Aries Mini
Douglas Connection Speaker Cables
Douglas Connection ICs
Living Room
Parasound HINT 6, Yamaha Aventage RX-A 1060, Oppo 103D, Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, KLH Model 5s, Polk CSi A6, Samsung 65" LED
Office
Yamaha A-S501, Auralic Aries Mini, LSiM 703s
Douglas Connection ICs and Cables -
Bang for the buck....means different things to different people. Here is my idea....
Used cables from the higher up brands like MIT, Acoustic Zen, Wireworld, Analysis Plus , AQ, Kimber, and a host of others.
Yesterdays high end gear, HT pre/pro's from the likes of Cary, Classe, Anthem, B&k still make a decent 2 channel pre and come with good dacs in them.
Any used PS Audio product is a good bang for the buck.
Older tubed pre's from Joule, VTL, Vac, Cary
Older SS AMPS from Parasound, B&k, McCormack, Butler....if you can find them around 1kHT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
For me given the price point, was the internal wire upgrade in the 2.3TL's. Going from stock to the 15.5ga Cardas Litz was immediately noticeable. Somewhat labor intensive but well worth it.
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I will contribute to say that proper speaker stands can make a big difference for a relatively small price, particularly on monitor-type speakers. After replacing tweeters, upgrading crossovers, etc., you'll want those monitors up off the floor, and tilted back (pointed toward your ears), in order to really enjoy all those other improvements."This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
For me given the price point, was the internal wire upgrade in the 2.3TL's. Going from stock to the 15.5ga Cardas Litz was immediately noticeable. Somewhat labor intensive but well worth it.
Hmmm. Not the first person here to say internal wiring upgrades. Making me think I should do this. Where did you source the wire?Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
Depends on the rig.
For the Carver Amazings rig, hands down best upgrade for the least amount of money was 10 gauge speaker wire. $50 bucks, a set of gold plated carbon fiber terminal ends and all of a sudden, no more over-drawn situations and enough bass to shake my neighbor's house from a set of Carver Silver 7t's.
For the Peachtree/Totem Acoustics rig, the $50 ART USB Phono Pre. Was not expecting that level of performance from a "quick/cheap fix" to get the Micro Seiki DD-35 turntable up and running. Stellar DAC but also allows me to feed my turntable output into my computer. I have ripped so much vinyl to digital formats! My dad can listen to his White Album from The Beatles without destroying it thanks to that little black box.
The other stuff, it's hard to say. Put everything together on a budget so the bang for the buck factor is through the roof.
But I will say that the Green KLH rig...that wowed everyone at PF2010. So much so that dorokusai actually came upstairs and asked me to turn down Rob Zombie (if you know doro, that pained him greatly to do) because they couldn't hear the LSi15/BBQ rig over my stupid little KLH 17's, my home made tube amp and my pocket MP3 player. I had to recharge that MP3 player 6 times that weekend 'cause that little rig got such a workout. Funny thing was, it was in the same room as Lou's Amazings which everyone but Antny ignored and Antny broke them that weekend too.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
Room Treatments, RDO tweeters, crossover recap
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I've only taken a few steps on this journey, but, for me, the unquestionable "bang" was a stand-alone tubed phono pre.
Chinesium. But it opened my mind to what is possible.
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When I read the OP post, I thought you meant best component you own. That’s why I said Boulder.Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
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Lol. Show off...;)
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Speaking of ATNY John, anyone heard anything about that boy ? Miss that dude.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
For me it was jumping my SDAs from my AVR to a dedicated Audire amp, (cost $225), and then from using my AVR as the pre to a Dodd MLP (cost about $700 as I recall). Both were ear openers to what was possible.VA HT HK AVR20II, Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD, Polk Audio RC80i / Polk Audio CSi3, 60" Panasonic Plasma, Nordost / Signal Cable A2 / Wireworld / Pangea / Magic Power
VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
Noggin Schiit Valhalla, Pangea, Phillips Fidelio X1, Polk UF8000
Polk SDA1c modded
Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
SACD Marantz DV8300
Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
Yamaha YP-D6
Soundcraftsmen PCR800
Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
Pho-700 Phono Pre
Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's -
Speaking of ATNY John, anyone heard anything about that boy ? Miss that dude.
I got him on Facebook but he never responds to me. Dunno what's up.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
Spikes!!!Polk Audio SDA 2.3tl Fully Hot Rodded. 😎
SVS SB16 X2
Cary SLP-05/Ultimate Upgrade.
Cary SA-500.1 ES Amps
Cary DMS 800PV Network
OPPO UDP 205/ModWright Modification
VPI Scout TT / Dynavector 20x2
Jolida JD9 Fully Modified
VPI MW-1 Cyclone RCM
MIT Shotgun 3 cables throughout / Except TT, and PC’s -
Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD. -
Made a bunch of cheap upgrades that each incrementally improved my listening enjoyment. In the last 10 months: refurbed tt, recapped/upgraded SDA-CRS, ditched receiver for new to me Rotel amp and pre, bought new phono pre, ICs, speaker cables, taller speaker stands/spikes, and made acoustic panels and subwoofer base. Nothing on the audiophile level, but I'm happy with how things sound and didn't break the bank.
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Nice ^
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I will say Totem Rainmaker Monitors and a REL sealed sub, both used of course. After that...I was surpised the jump my Benchmark DAC was over the previous Schiit Bifrost DAC.
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The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
I will say Totem Rainmaker Monitors and a REL sealed sub, both used of course. After that...I was surpised the jump my Benchmark DAC was over the previous Schiit Bifrost DAC.
I have the same monitors however not hooked up at the moment. They are great. -
Once I get it dialed in, my Pass X0.2 and the Xono... in order to get them, I sold my Krell CDP, the X1, and my PS Audio phono stage. The net cost after all is second and done will be a big, fat zero out of pocket.
So for the cost of swapping some pieces around, I get a huge upgrade for nothing.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Marantz NA8005 for playing flac. It was one of those "oh wow" moments. It made playing CDs through my Pio BDP-51FD sound sterile and that Pioneer really doesn't sound sterile. I couldn't believe the difference, by far my best audio purchase to date. And that was before the Ruby Modification.
Still hankering for em! 
