What next to improve my sound

Milito

So I'm getting a stimulus check this month and was thinking about ways to improve my sound of my system in 2 channel mode. I have a Yamaha 2070, B&K 4420, LSIM 705's, 704. I want to spend somewhere between $500-$1,000.

I was thinking about getting a preamp with home theater by pass or should I get something else?

So with my limited experience what do you recommend?

mantis

A subwoofer

Gardenstater

Room acoustic treatments?

Milito

I have a HSU subwoofer and can't do treatments in our main room, thanks.

Gardenstater

Oh Ok. I might look into vibration isolation platforms, especially if you have wooden floors over another room or basement. They have produced great improvement in my own humble system. I often get the comment from audiophile friends that it sounds way better than it has a right to sound (I'll take it).

tonyb

Tube pre amp....better cabling....

gyosa

May I suggest you donate that stimulus check to the charity of your choice ....
Or , half of it ...
Maybe someone could use that money for something other than stereo equipment.....
Like food , rent , or basic necessities....
It would make you feel good as well ...

Just sayin .....

Bk

And , no , I’m not getting one ....
But if I did , I’d donate it ... as there are more in need than me ....

Sorry if I offended anyone .... in advance ....😃

BlueFox

You can give me some of the stimulus money, or buy a decent power cord.

Milito

My wife and I each plan to donate part of our checks. Not offended at all.

daddyjt

What disc player are you running?

gyosa

I’m sorry ... I wasn’t meaning to attack you ...
Just the situation in general...
On second thought , my rant was misdirected
Mr. Vodka should keep my mouth shut !

You’re a gentleman in the truest sense .


Good on you for donating.... thank you ...this situation has literally destroyed millions of people’s lives in our country alone ....and it truly upsets me .

Thread hijack over .... 😃😃

Bk

Milito wrote: »

My wife and I each plan to donate part of our checks. Not offended at all.

Milito

daddyjt wrote: »

What disc player are you running?

An old Technics PD867 5 disc and Sony UBP-X700.

I converted all of my CD's to flac and run the songs off of a flash drive on my Yamaha 2070. I hardly ever listen to CD's. Also use Tidal.

No problem gyosa. I say things I shouldn't all the time even without Vodka or other liquid influences.

rooftop59

First, your streaming option is highly compromised. Squeezebox touches can be had for $150 or less (I have gotten all three of mine for less than $100) and they still sound darn good. My Bryston BDP-1 that bud karmaed me does sound better, but it’s a lot closer than it should be. And both sound light years better than streaming through a computer into a usb DAC. I stream both local flag files and tidal as well. I would honestly start there...

Second, a preamp would make a big difference. Drew sure gave a good review to the parasound new classic 200. It has preouts and HT bypass and you might decide you don’t need the rotel?!?

Milito

I stream with my 2070, is that still bad? I was looking at the classic 200 pre along with some others.

I'll search for Drew's review. Found it, it's an Integrated, I was looking at a preamp.

https://www.safeandsoundhq.com/collections/parasound-b-stock/products/parasound-new-classic-200-pre-stereo-preamplifier-and-dac-b-stock-full-warranty

Thanks everyone.

rooftop59

Milito wrote: »

I stream with my 2070, is that still bad? I was looking at the classic 200 pre along with some others.

I'll search for Drew's review. Found it, it's an Integrated, I was looking at a preamp.

https://www.safeandsoundhq.com/collections/parasound-b-stock/products/parasound-new-classic-200-pre-stereo-preamplifier-and-dac-b-stock-full-warranty

Thanks everyone.

Same preamp, just without the power. So most of true review still stands I believe.

Yes, the receiver as streamer is compromising your SQ...

RandyWilliamson

Nice read here! Was wondering you think that Squeezbox touch sounds better than spotify thru computer directly to PreAmp input? does it have a good dac built in?

I have been thinking about the Parasound also do u think its sweeter sounding than a GFP-710? I was originally aiming for Adcom GFP-750 but just couldnt afford it at the time.

I also stream from Grace Digital but mostly just Pandora. That on the other is very clear tbh. Youtube from the computer for example is just trash pure filth echoing all their ads.

steveinaz

gyosa:
I don't think it's ever appropriate to suggest what someone else should do with their money (unsolicited); it's none of your business, and tacky. Just MY opinion.

rooftop59

RandyWilliamson wrote: »

Nice read here! Was wondering you think that Squeezbox touch sounds better than spotify thru computer directly to PreAmp input? does it have a good dac built in?

Computers are noisy. Not noise that you can hear until you hear something without the noise. When the noise floor drops the background becomes blacker and all kinds of details become apparent that weren’t before. Read my post above: even with an external DAC there is a big difference between a dedicated streamer and a computer...

Also, yes, unless you have a really good sound card in the computer, the DAC in the touch with be far superior.

Gardenstater

Tell me about it. I still get a tiny amount of packet noise at 8kHz and 16kHz (barely discernible except to keen ears) in my system where the data stream is coming from a Lenovo Desktop. I either need an entirely isolated USB DAC or perhaps a music streamer.

Clipdat

Hit up Skip and get a Lumin U1 Mini and never look back.

afterburnt

Burn that check!

RandyWilliamson

Gardenstater wrote: »

Tell me about it. I still get a tiny amount of packet noise at 8kHz and 16kHz (barely discernible except to keen ears) in my system where the data stream is coming from a Lenovo Desktop. I either need an entirely isolated USB DAC or perhaps a music streamer.

Have you disconnected your power supply when streaming from your laptop. Thats the source of most noise. I get decent fairly clean from spotify. And I just read that if u pay for the premium plan you can choose 320khz which has got to be hoot.

Rooftop59 youve given me a new field to research. Years ago i bought a Grace audio and called it done becuz it was a lot to read up on because I always thought you could do that same streaming from a computer via software....but it seems a lot has changed in hardware side...dedicated chipsets.

Clipdat what a rock and roll machine. At that pricetag its gotta be heaven.

rburgess714

My 2 cents.. I have the Yamaha 1060 and I got the Parasound P5 with HT bypass added a streamer and that was a game changer.

I started with a Auralic Aries Mini and then moved that to another rig an added a CA 851N. Having the pre and streamer took my modest rig to another level.

For $1000 bucks you could pick up a used P5 and Bluesound Node and be set.

Milito

One of the problems I have is the space I have available to put anything new. The wife won't go for audio equipment laying around everywhere. The new classic or P5 probably won't fit in the space available. I'm going to have to see what I can do as far as space.

Which helped your sound more, the P5 or a streamer? If I could find a space to put either one.

Gardenstater

RandyWilliamson wrote: »

Gardenstater wrote: »

Tell me about it. I still get a tiny amount of packet noise at 8kHz and 16kHz (barely discernible except to keen ears) in my system where the data stream is coming from a Lenovo Desktop. I either need an entirely isolated USB DAC or perhaps a music streamer.

Have you disconnected your power supply when streaming from your laptop. Thats the source of most noise. I get decent fairly clean from spotify. And I just read that if u pay for the premium plan you can choose 320khz which has got to be hoot.

Yeah Randy it was disconnecting the power from the desktop with the iDefender and iPower low noise power supply that made the packet noise discernible. Before that it was just buried in all the other noise. I opened a ticket with AMR, the maker of the iFi DAC I have, and they were extremely helpful and even gave me a free iSilencer and iPurifier3. The latter reclocks and resamples and made my sound tremendously better but did not take out the packet noise. Almost made me wonder if it was coming from the DAC itself, except for the fact that it is worse (higher peaks at 8kHz and 16kHz) when I have a browser open and the more tabs open the worse it is. So it is definitely coming in over the 2 data wires in the USB cable. I'm using TIDAL and Qobuz.

pitdogg2

Have you thought about trying the Bose hearing-aids ? They have a pocket subwoofer that can be a lot of fun IF YA know what I mean ..... Just slide that in the front pocket and grin ear to ear allll day long

Milito

Yea, I get one of those and when you get old I'll sell it to you.

Don't worry I'll give you the w..e a.s discount.

afterburnt

"Pocket" sub woofer?

rooftop59

Milito wrote: »

One of the problems I have is the space I have available to put anything new. The wife won't go for audio equipment laying around everywhere. The new classic or P5 probably won't fit in the space available. I'm going to have to see what I can do as far as space.

Which helped your sound more, the P5 or a streamer? If I could find a space to put either one.

Have you seen the actual size of a squeezebox touch? Very small and doubles as a clock. I would seriously consider a preamp and a touch to try out better quality streaming. Of course a lumin is better, but have a decent system and ears and the difference between my Bryston and touch is very slight...and if you don’t like the touch you can just move it along.

steveinaz

afterburnt wrote: »

"Pocket" sub woofer?

Kinda gives the "brown note" a whole new meaning.

Milito

rooftop59 wrote: »

Milito wrote: »

One of the problems I have is the space I have available to put anything new. The wife won't go for audio equipment laying around everywhere. The new classic or P5 probably won't fit in the space available. I'm going to have to see what I can do as far as space.

Which helped your sound more, the P5 or a streamer? If I could find a space to put either one.

Have you seen the actual size of a squeezebox touch? Very small and doubles as a clock. I would seriously consider a preamp and a touch to try out better quality streaming. Of course a lumin is better, but have a decent system and ears and the difference between my Bryston and touch is very slight...and if you don’t like the touch you can just move it along.

Thanks I'll check it out.