Waste of time?

[icehockeyboy]

As you may have read, I’ve started dabbling into this hobby again, and for beer money have a little bedroom set up, consisting of a Pioneer A203 amp, Gale 3010S speakers, bolstered by a REL Quake amp, fed by a Squeezebox Touch, linked by some cheap Cambridge Audio Symphony 300 speaker cable, and some amazing uber cheap ic’s which were preferred over some much more expensive Chord Anthems , in an A/B test some years ago.

Now, my question is, as the title of the post implies, ..would I be wasting my time and indeed money by trying to make this very modest, but decent sounding little system, better by adding a small DAC or whatever, for instance?

Please feel free to suggest what would make a difference without swapping boxes.

Fire away! :)

[Macca]

Speaker set-up/positioning and room treatment?

[Pigmy Pony]

Moving the REL around. The middle of a wall, away from corners, may tighten the bass a bit. Conversely moving it into a corner will boost the bass output a bit. A matter of personal preference.

[icehockeyboy]

Hi guys,
I don’t think I’ll be going down the room treatment route due to sheer cost and lack of wife’s approval!

I’m not noticing a problem with bass so Mr REL stays where he is, nicely hidden away from aforementioned wife’s prying mince pies!

Speaker position seems ok too.
Forgot to mention they sit atop some nice Atacama Nexus stands.

Keep em coming.

[eisenach]

Well, unless you want to get hooked in again, I'd leave well alone.

On the otherhand, my ATC SCM11s I have for sale are definitely just what you need. All you have to do then is change the amp, worry about the cabling and source and enjoy the hamster-like feeling of being back on the treadmill!

Your choice! :)

[Haselsh1]

I think personally that changes are well worth it. They may not always improve what you have but they may well make it different. It is a hobby after all.

;)

[hifinutt]

yes its well worth trying a dac , always worth having a play to see if you can improve sound . what about one of those cambridge dac magic jobbies

[Pigmy Pony]

Hi guys,
I don’t think I’ll be going down the room treatment route due to sheer cost and lack of wife’s approval!

I’m not noticing a problem with bass so Mr REL stays where he is, nicely hidden away from aforementioned wife’s prying mince pies!

Speaker position seems ok too.
Forgot to mention they sit atop some nice Atacama Nexus stands.

Keep em coming.

So you don't want to upgrade anything, and you don't want to modify your room, and you don't want to move stuff around. Have you considered taking up hang-gliding? Or archery? Or maybe just buy some more music and enjoy what you have? :)

[walpurgis]

Please feel free to suggest what would make a difference without swapping boxes.

Fire away! :)

Headphones?

[icehockeyboy]

So you don't want to upgrade anything, and you don't want to modify your room, and you don't want to move stuff around. Have you considered taking up hang-gliding? Or archery? Or maybe just buy some more music and enjoy what you have? :)

All depends on if your definition of me not upgrading anything includes the purchase of a DAC.
Even then it still leaves room for cable upgrades, if indeed the system is worth it, being such a budget set up.

[icehockeyboy]

Well, unless you want to get hooked in again, I'd leave well alone.

On the otherhand, my ATC SCM11s I have for sale are definitely just what you need. All you have to do then is change the amp, worry about the cabling and source and enjoy the hamster-like feeling of being back on the treadmill!

Your choice! :)


Loving your thoughts! :)

[Stratmangler]

As you may have read, I’ve started dabbling into this hobby again, and for beer money have a little bedroom set up, consisting of a Pioneer A203 amp, Gale 3010S speakers, bolstered by a REL Quake amp, fed by a Squeezebox Touch, linked by some cheap Cambridge Audio Symphony 300 speaker cable, and some amazing uber cheap ic’s which were preferred over some much more expensive Chord Anthems , in an A/B test some years ago.

Now, my question is, as the title of the post implies, ..would I be wasting my time and indeed money by trying to make this very modest, but decent sounding little system, better by adding a small DAC or whatever, for instance?

Please feel free to suggest what would make a difference without swapping boxes.

Fire away! :)

What are you powering the Touch with?

[icehockeyboy]

Bog standard PSU Chris, I’m thinking the rest of the stuff wouldn’t ‘recognise/appreciate ‘ a better PSU?

[Stryder5]

Topping D30 DAC, rated quite highly by a few people, not much money to try, if you don't find an improvement in your system then sell it on. Look on eBay.

DIY analogue interconnects CarboKab 225 with MS Audio silver plugs.

Gary

[Stratmangler]

You might be surprised Craig.
A better (quieter) PSU would be of benefit.

[Jazid]

A cheap DAC would add a lot of functionality at little cost. So more pleasure for peanuts. Then speakers, sources, amps, crystal balls and moo-shook mugwumps, then cables. All IMHO [emoji16] If messing with cables floats your boat, enjoy. That's the name of the game after all, it ain't serious.

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