weakest link

[aragorn723]

Hi,

Is there a way to tell what is the weakest link in your stereo?  My system is as follows:

Audioengine d1 dac thru target rca cables to bottlehead quickie
target rca cables to female to female rca adapter to cardas interconnects to Inter-m R500 amp
R500 amp to Monster cable to Def Tech BP6B speakers

It sounds pretty good now, but is there any room for improvement?  Thanks,

Dave

[Paul Birkeland]

It sounds pretty good now, but is there any room for improvement?  Thanks,

Yeah, I'd start with a pair of Magico Q5's.   

[Chris]

Clean up your cabling if possible, getting rid of the adapter maybe..

[aragorn723]

I'll have to play around with that.  The amp is on the floor and the Quickie is way up high due to some microphonics issues between that and a wireless router.  Maybe the amp can come up somehow or the Quickie could be on a wall shelf?  (Though it would probably wind up behind a speaker since there isn't much wall space).  Would this be ok?  The speakers are front and rear firing.

Dave

[aragorn723]

Changing the cable between the preamp and amp is a possibility.  I don't want to change anything major right now, so probably not a component. 

As far as listening,  I like a clean, detailed sound.  Sometimes I listen to hear the part an individual instrument, or the singer, or for soundstaging and imaging. 

Dave

[galyons]

It sounds pretty good now, but is there any room for improvement?  Thanks,

Dave

This is like asking "How long is a piece of string?"  You have to set your own audio expectations, budget and trade-offs. As far as "room for improvement" you do not have to go any farther than here:  http://bottlehead.com/bottlehead-products/ 

Generally speaking, PA amps are a trade-off when used in a home audio system.  Can you bypass the volume pots in the PA amp?  As others have mentioned, the cabling....simple and direct, no extraneous connectors.

I have been trying for over 40 years to "get that last bit of improvement"  It is a journey, not a destination!!

Cheers,
Geary

[Chris]

"I have been trying for over 40 years to "get that last bit of improvement"  It is a journey, not a destination!!"

Yep, and that is all part of the fun...

[aragorn723]

"I have been trying for over 40 years to "get that last bit of improvement"  It is a journey, not a destination!!"

I'm jealous, you have 30 years up on me ;-)  Been doing this for maybe 10 years now.  Eventually it would be nice to change out the amp and maybe even speakers.  The system sounds good, but i'd like to play around with SET amps.  The R500 is really powerful (used that to DJ my sister's wedding) but it doesn't have that amazingly clear, liquid midrange a tube amp does.  Since switching to SET will probably mean changing the speakers and amp, i'm looking at maybe upgrading the RCAs to the amp and possibly speaker wire for now (and maybe adding a record player eventually too).

Dave

[Chris]

Soumds like you are on the right SET website "BH", and are on the right track to quite an improvement...  Enjoy the step by step ride...

[aragorn723]

Just got an upgrade, Jriver!  Forgot how much better than can sound   

[aragorn723]

Generally speaking, PA amps are a trade-off when used in a home audio system.  Can you bypass the volume pots in the PA?
Cheers,
Geary
[/quote]

How do I do that?

[aragorn723]

Just realized a bypass won't work, those volume pots are keeping the Quickie volume from being a hair trigger control (the amp's input impedance is only 10k).

Dave