What has been your best component upgrade?

[ScottK]

I'm often reading posts that claim a cable or individual audio component upgrade "transformed" a system. I always have to wonder what this means. Does it mean the system sounds different but not necessarily better? Or, does it mean a meaningful improvement but by how much? Plus how would your describe the gain? A percentage of overall SQ or some other metric. Stated another way this is a cost- benefit question. If we exclude speakers and room treatment which are universally agreed (?) upon as the most important components, what have been your most cost effective upgrade(s) in your system. Lets also specify this is a moderate to high-end system to begin with (50-100K).

 

[Alrainbow]

What it means to me is this
Everyone’s system has a bottle neck.
when you release this part with a better more suitable part things change big.
as I am an electrical engineer and lisc electrician I kind of see behind the curtains like at a magic show.
interconnects was a myth to me. but yet I could hear changes. when I finally Gave in to actually try varying them. It too became a game changing part

 

[JackD201]

For me it has always been the loudspeakers because ultimately that is what we directly interface with. Once I get "more" from the speaker, all else follows to get the "most" from them.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

by far my most significant gear upgrade in my system building history was back in 2001, after i grew tired of my Wilson/Levinson direction and even though never heard or saw a Kharma; i ordered Kharma Exquisite 1D speakers, waited 6 months for them to arrive, during which time i tried a number of amps, and settled on Tenor 75 watt OTL amplifiers. when the Kharma's arrived and i finally hooked them up to the Tenors, i was in heaven. it was such a difference, exceeded my high expectations, and set the bar going forward to a type of music over sounds..........cohesion, flow and tone over hype and excitement.

might i have somehow found that same musical equation with Wilson and Levinson? don't know, can't really say. i can only speak for my system, and how i heard it then.

nothing else changed in my room then other than those two gear changes. hard to say which was more significant, the Kharma or the Tenor. they were partners.

that reference sound from that day still guides me now 22 years later. a watershed moment for me. i've had other big gear change moments, but all after that are part of what happened and aligned together that day.

 

[Lee]

Toss-up between the Alexia Vs and the Continuum Caliburn table. The Vs for being so much better than the Alexia 2s and the Caliburn for taking my LP playback to reference levels. I am so enjoying the system now that I am just focusing on listening to my music collection. I am hearing new things every day.

 

[exupgh12]

1. Room treatment, even the minor treatment I use made notable improvement (at the end we hear the result of interaction between our setup and the room)
2. Speakers.
3. Source.

 

[daytona600]

1/ Off grid Power Battery PV system
2/ Full room treatment
3/ Ultrasonic RCM Klaudio

 

[Lee]

Really the #1 thing I learned was the importance of setup. Jim Smith has been a valuable asset and he really took the system to a new level. For anyone investing in a great system at this price point, it should be considered a required step.

 

[Young Skywalker]

A dedicated, acoustically treated listening room.

 

[itay123]

For me, the speakers and their location and direction caused the biggest drama.

After that, the biggest change I felt and in fact also dictated the nature of the result and its direction, was the DAC, combined as a single uniform result together with the SERVER.

After that, the SOUND curtains and the bass traps I installed that gave spatial silence and solidity to the sound, which today is inseparable from the result.

After that, the electronics, pre-power that took the capabilities of the speakers to a stable, clean, transparent and quality place.

Then the AC cables that carved more layers and textures and transparency for the result.

And the other additional components that introduced more precision, solidity, levity and air to the result.

In conclusion, every detail totally affects the result, and it is really difficult to create a separation and create a simple hierarchy.

 

[jfrech]

I'd have to say after careful speaker placement/set up, the next I'd say is my Grand Prix Audio Silverstone F1 racks. You'd have to hear it to believe the difference a great rack makes with all your gear. After this, I'd have to say my cabling and getting it to all one level from Transparent.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Totally new room/dedicated lines, benefit on a par/interchangeable with Arya Audio Airblades.

Everything else a distant third.

 

[andromedaaudio]

For me it was finding the right pre amp .
Inserting the CAT pre into the system was a game changer 13 years ago , i never looked back since
Currently i m using the CAT Legend

 

[Another Johnson]

OP excluded room and speakers, so after those:

1. The decision to use current, or at least next to current, generation (as opposed to vintage) components.

2. Clean power and unobfuscating interconnects.

3. Having Tom O’Keefe “tune up” my LP12.

4. Sorting out my ISP.

 

[Rexp]

For me it was finding the right pre amp .
Inserting the CAT pre into the system was a game changer 13 years ago , i never looked back since
Currently i m using the CAT Legend

View attachment 115802

CAT's are great, my first valve pre was a CJ PV6, totally transformed my listening experience. After that, switching from a Pink Triangle PT Too to a Townshend Rock gave significant improvements.

 

[JackD201]

OP excluded room and speakers, so after those:

1. The decision to use current, or at least next to current, generation (as opposed to vintage) components.

2. Clean power and unobfuscating interconnects.

3. Having Tom O’Keefe “tune up” my LP12.

4. Sorting out my ISP.

That's right Scott did exclude speakers. My poor old eyes and wandering mind LOL

In that case the award would go to Master Built Ultras. I liken the improvement to having arteries without plaque

 

[DetroitVinylRob]

So many steps along the path… it’s been such a passion play. Learning by experience the value of synergy between components. Learning how good a modest kit could sound in a good acoustic space (the listening room, the elephant). Learning that we don’t need to necessarily understand a science, but trust our ears. Learning just how much music is buried in the noise floor.

better turntables, Tonearms, cartridges

vacuum tube amplification

better loudspeakers

dedicated listening room

acoustic treatments

equipment isolation

mains treatment

equipment burn-in and settling

the tweaking

I imagine the one single component that changed everything, and still causes transformation in everything was/is “experience listening to reproduction gear first”, AND lastly, finding that mix that allows us to finally stop listening to the gear and start listening to the music.

No single piece of gear ever unlocked or untethered the performance. Perhaps my Atma-Sphere OTLs came very close. The OTLs portrayed the music in a space, an atmosphere, appearing from nowhere. A quality of liquidity and transparency that I had never experienced before in musical reproduction. That level of resolution was profound and unique to any previous experience. But one thing then caused another, and another, in an unending chain. Layer after layer. Insight after insight.

Then there is the art and serendipity in it all. Often it’s ineffable, a je ne sais quoi, an indescribable something, a magic that comes to play. And I’m more than fine with that.

Happy listening, happy listener

 

[Another Johnson]

I’m going to respond a second time, but with better focus on the spirit of the OP.

Over 48 years of component based systems, I think that the single component upgrade that I enjoyed most was the replacement of my pair of KT120 modified Conrad Johnson LP275Ms with an Audio Research REF 75SE.

Before that, second most enjoyment was obtained with the replacement of my original McIntosh C22 with a new Conrad Johnson PV5.

 

[Hear Here]

For me it has always been the loudspeakers because ultimately that is what we directly interface with. Once I get "more" from the speaker, all else follows to get the "most" from them.

I agree with that.

By far the biggest hike up in sound quality was when I switched from ATC Active 50 speakers to Avantgarde Uno horns in 2002 - subsequently upgraded to Duos and currently Duo XDs.

Changing amps and other components have improved matter, but not a patch on the speaker upgrade. Some amps in my search for a ss amp to replace SETs were a huge disappointment but in the end I found a ss amp that excels with my horns - to the angst of others here no doubt!

PS - The biggest step down in sound quality was when I moved from my London flat (5-sided room of 320 sq ft, 10 ft ceilings) to a much larger living room on the South Coast (semi-circular room of 945 sq ft with low ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glazing on the curved wall). Initially there was reverberation and a poor overall sound, but adding carpeting, furnishing, curtains, etc has transformed the acoustics such that I prefer not to use Dirac Live to mess with the signal.

PPS - Sorry, didn't notice the exclusion of speakers!

 

[Bobvin]

At this point in time, hands down my addition of VYGER Atlantis turntable (with Titan controller) has had the most impressive boost in realism I’ve heard from a single component upgrade.

Lots of upgrades have boosted the quality of playback — I think moving to an Audio Research Ref10 pre would have been the other biggest change, but have to keep in mind what the level of my system was when I made that change. I have been lucky my improvements have universally improved sound quality. I don’t profess to be a reviewer so can’t make statements related to degree of improvement. Some are clearly better on first listen, others reveal over time.
Adding the Etsuro MasterGold cartridge was better immediately but over time the beauty revealed itself in musical flow, grace, nuance and delicacy, exposing subtleties that were previously hidden.

But now, with the MasterGold playing on the VYGER it absolutely soars. I knew my AMG viella12 table was considered a peak into top turntable performance, but have been gobsmacked the delta between it and the VYGER Atlantis. As my audio buddies have been exposed universally I am told it is the best vinyl playback they’ve heard, that the analog source now is commensurate with the quality of the other components and the sound has taken a quantum leap towards, as Ron says, “the suspension of disbelief”.

(And those who know me and have read my posts over the years, I am loathe to use the word “quantum” wrt to anything audio.)

Hoping I can find a digital playback improvement that is on par. The Taiko server was a major upgrade but I expect my DAC, while good, is likely similar to the AMG table — capable and competent, yet not at an elite level.

Of course, because of my affiliation with Rhapsody.Audio, some will read this a shameless promotion, but this my honest opinion of my experience and my system. You are always welcome to have a visit and listen for yourself — I find real joy in sharing with others.