The thread on giant killer speakers and particularly some of the latest posts has reminded me that this was a thread I wanted to start and which I hope will be helpful to all those members who want to upgrade their systems but may have difficulty in deciding their priorities within available resources.
Looking back I am sure that like most people I didn't always get my priorities right but latterly I think I have got better at it.I have a mixture of analogue and digital. Recent component upgrades have included an MD 109 tuner because here in the UK we are blessed with the wonderful BBC. I went from MD 106 to MD 108 to MD 108T and now am at the top of the FM tuner tree.Finding a good used 109 wasn't easy and took some time so the intervening steps made sense.
Over a period of 20+ years I went from Naim Nait to Naim 500/552DR. Mistake. I should have looked more widely at other brands. Happily I did not lose out financially because Naim gear holds its value well and I even made a profit selling them in favour of my Vitus SIA 025 which gives me a much more musical sound, the option of Class A and balanced connections.
Three years ago I upgraded to YG Carmels which was one of the best buys ever and neither of the aforementioned upgrades phased them in any way. They just did their job and sounded better than ever thanks to the improved sources. So in my experience upgrading the speakers would come very high on my list of upgrade priorities. The current YG Kipod Signature passives have been equally successful.
The DCS Puccini in place of the Esoteric X03SE was again a great buy as was the Puccini u clock that followed.The Esoteric to my ears was cold and uninvolving despite all the good reviews.
What I had not appreciated until very recently was how big an improvement I would get for replacing the Puccini clock with a Scarlatti clock. Made a big improvement.
My Townshend Rock V to replace a Linn LP 12 was a bit of leap in the dark. A good one came up on Ebay at a good price and I was the only bidder. Happily my fascination with a Rock V was not a disappointment.
Over the last three years I have invested significantly in Entreq grounding and cables and until the recent purchases of the Kipods and the Scarlatti clock that was what I concentrated on.In my experiencespending money on Entreq grounding and better cables, Entreq or otherwise, should have a high priority and depending on circumstances ahead of components.
If you are heavily into digital and PC audio, which I am not, I guess that in addition to the above the best DAC you can afford must be a high priority.
The other thing I learn't was reviews are only part of the answer and some reviewers are more reliable than others. It also helps to know what their systems are. Some of my purchases relied on reviews. Didn't work for the Esoteric but no problem with the Puccini and the Townshend, or the MD tuners. Heard the Carmels at Munich two years running and then bought, but the Kipods again relied on reviews, but supported by the three year experience in the home of the Carmels.
I'd love to hear other members thoughts and experiences on setting priorities for upgrading ones' system and hopefully it will be helpful to everybody else on the upgrade path.
Looking back I am sure that like most people I didn't always get my priorities right but latterly I think I have got better at it.I have a mixture of analogue and digital. Recent component upgrades have included an MD 109 tuner because here in the UK we are blessed with the wonderful BBC. I went from MD 106 to MD 108 to MD 108T and now am at the top of the FM tuner tree.Finding a good used 109 wasn't easy and took some time so the intervening steps made sense.
Over a period of 20+ years I went from Naim Nait to Naim 500/552DR. Mistake. I should have looked more widely at other brands. Happily I did not lose out financially because Naim gear holds its value well and I even made a profit selling them in favour of my Vitus SIA 025 which gives me a much more musical sound, the option of Class A and balanced connections.
Three years ago I upgraded to YG Carmels which was one of the best buys ever and neither of the aforementioned upgrades phased them in any way. They just did their job and sounded better than ever thanks to the improved sources. So in my experience upgrading the speakers would come very high on my list of upgrade priorities. The current YG Kipod Signature passives have been equally successful.
The DCS Puccini in place of the Esoteric X03SE was again a great buy as was the Puccini u clock that followed.The Esoteric to my ears was cold and uninvolving despite all the good reviews.
What I had not appreciated until very recently was how big an improvement I would get for replacing the Puccini clock with a Scarlatti clock. Made a big improvement.
My Townshend Rock V to replace a Linn LP 12 was a bit of leap in the dark. A good one came up on Ebay at a good price and I was the only bidder. Happily my fascination with a Rock V was not a disappointment.
Over the last three years I have invested significantly in Entreq grounding and cables and until the recent purchases of the Kipods and the Scarlatti clock that was what I concentrated on.In my experiencespending money on Entreq grounding and better cables, Entreq or otherwise, should have a high priority and depending on circumstances ahead of components.
If you are heavily into digital and PC audio, which I am not, I guess that in addition to the above the best DAC you can afford must be a high priority.
The other thing I learn't was reviews are only part of the answer and some reviewers are more reliable than others. It also helps to know what their systems are. Some of my purchases relied on reviews. Didn't work for the Esoteric but no problem with the Puccini and the Townshend, or the MD tuners. Heard the Carmels at Munich two years running and then bought, but the Kipods again relied on reviews, but supported by the three year experience in the home of the Carmels.
I'd love to hear other members thoughts and experiences on setting priorities for upgrading ones' system and hopefully it will be helpful to everybody else on the upgrade path.
