Equipment hierarchy - what's the best upgrade path?

[skyline]

To me the upgrade to Equitec probably wasn't worth the money as I'd rather spend that upgrade on speakers or front end where I'd hear more of a difference. That's just me.

 

To me, I've always just made sure I have clean connections and unplug quarterly or so and clean the plugs. I'll let you know if I hear a difference with my new power outlets. For some, it makes a big difference as folks I trust tell me it does. If may for you if you have poor power to begin with or if you have a ton of RF in your room and need to get rid of it. I spoke at length with Garth Powell about this last month and he says that everything he designs for Audioquest is about filtering the RF. He says he can make his cables directional and drain the RF I think he said back to the outlet and box. Not sure if he can, but I will say that if you have your system sounding great, you need to bring home their new Niagara strips. Their 1k unit has 1 power supply hook up and NO it does nothing to the dynamics like most power conditioners do.

 

If I could start over in the hobby, the first thing I would do is upgrade the wall outlet and install a dedicated line. I just switched over from a GTX-D to a Maestro at the wall outlet, and Maestro has more bloom and tonal density. Hard to believe, right?

 

And you will be stunned when get a mains block that addresses RFI and does not restrict dynamics (like Vertex AQ or Entreq). I've never been happy in the long run with a traditional active power conditioner.

 

I mistakenly attributed some shortcomings in my system to the DAC, but it was the power conditioner all along.

[ctsooner]

If I could start over in the hobby, the first thing I would do is upgrade the wall outlet and install a dedicated line. I just switched over from a GTX-D to a Maestro at the wall outlet, and Maestro has more bloom and tonal density. Hard to believe, right?

 

And you will be stunned when get a mains block that addresses RFI and does not restrict dynamics (like Vertex AQ or Entreq). I've never been happy in the long run with a traditional active power conditioner.

 

I mistakenly attributed some shortcomings in my system to the DAC, but it was the power conditioner all along.

 

As I said, some swear by power outlets, cords and conditioners. For me, I just make sure eventing is on the same circuit and that it's all grounded properly. I've heard many differences, but not always better when folks are dealing with power. I just think that the products I own and have for awhile have always dealt with filtering within each component, so I haven't been able to hear those types of major differences. As I said, I'll be installing the Edison outlets this week hopefully and will be listening after they each have at least 500 hours on them to see if I hear any difference and if so, what it is.

 

I also have decently clean power in the house as they grounded everything properly and we used what I was told at the time was the proper internal wiring. I know it's solid copper, but am not sure of the gauge. The system is all run on it's own breaker so I don't seem to have the lights or other outlets to concern myself with.

[OldBigEars]

Have to agree with that. The jump from the LS50's I owned to what I have now was a step change in SQ for me, whilst similar jumps in DACs and amplification have been more what I would call 'refinements'.

 

I finally decided to upgrade my speakers and am feverishly looking forward to the new ones arriving from England. 20 years is long enough, although my Linn's will surely make someone happy and will continue to produce great music for the foreseeable. My electrics are quite modest and simple, but imo they punch well above their weight and sound great. We shall see if I made the right move...(you gotta love this hobby/habit)

[accwai]

If I could start over in the hobby, the first thing I would do is upgrade the wall outlet and install a dedicated line. I just switched over from a GTX-D to a Maestro at the wall outlet, and Maestro has more bloom and tonal density. Hard to believe, right?

 

Interesting... So which version of GTX-D? And is it a bare outlet or a full stack?

[skyline]

Interesting... So which version of GTX-D? And is it a bare outlet or a full stack?

 

It's the older rhodium version.

 

You have to go with the full stack with the frame and cover.

 

You'll notice less smearing with the full kit. Crazy, huh?

 

But I use the Maestro at the wall outlet since my Entreq Powerus has GTX-D built in. Just better synergy that way.

[skyline]

I also have decently clean power in the house as they grounded everything properly and we used what I was told at the time was the proper internal wiring.

 

Well, Entreq effectively discovered the solution to grounding audio components.

 

And much to the surprise of audiophiles like myself, their grounding boxes make a huge difference.