Stop upgrading? STOP UPGRADING? STOP UPGRADING???
Never I say, never!
The vinyl front end has been sounding so good for the last 2-3 years that I’ve no desire to upgrade this.
However, it is so far ahead of digital sources, that attention has turned to these now. Lord help us!
Best regards, BF
I do no longer feel any need to, and hopefully once my 500 comes back repaired/ serviced/ DRed and my 555 to spin some discs equally repaired I shall be happy. Furthermore the repair bill will probably come to something like £ 7K, which was certainly something I hadn’t factored in having retired only 3 months ago. Hey ho Peter
I’ve kinda given up on upgrading my current system for the moment as everything I’ve tried has been a downgrade in my room. Perhaps I lucked out on the synergy stakes.
My current system which is pretty much as it was 6 years ago is:
DAC-V1, Supernait 2 into Sounus Faber Cremona Auditors and B&W PV1D subwoofer. Only change that has stuck is instead of a laptop my DAC is now fed form an Intel NUC in a fanless case with SSD and linear PSU.
My Fails are: HICAP DR and unmentionable PSU into SN2, Mytek Brooklyn and Chord Qutest DACs. The biggest folly of all was Kudos S20 speakers which I had on home demo a month ago as thought they would walk all over the Cremona Auditors. How wrong I was as my tiny SF’s sounded twice the size of the S20’s with or without the Sub and a hell of a lot more musical. Bear in mind speakers are very room dependant so I’m not saying the S20’s are a bad speaker.
So with all the above attempted failures and the speakers being the biggest eye opener of all I’ve currently lost all interest in upgrades. I’m finally happy with what I have and have realised I’d have to spend mega bucks in order to improve things
No, don’t be silly! The last couple of years have been rather mad:
Olive 250 to 300 and nd5xs to nds - had been aiming to do this since 2010, so a long run up to that change
Then last year I added hc/snaxo/ second 300 and SL2s, and a mix of Fraim : fraimlite with balls and glass - and am currently listening to a home dem 552 (had since last Friday)
Hi Pedropete,
I haven’t learned how to reply with quote yet, so I’ve pasted in the relevant section of your post:
My Fails are: … Chord Qutest DACs.
What was it about the Chord Qutest that didn’t work for you? I have a DAC-V1, which is staying, but I am tempted to try a Chord dac in the main system.
Best regards, BF
That’s a “no” then 
.sjb
I’ve not upgraded all year.
When I’ve stopped upgrading and my wife talks to the undertaker, and he offers and upgrade of my stone, he’s in big trouble.
I am not sure, recently upgraded my unitilite to a Star. Had got the lite to replace a 32.5 with 72 boards, hi-cap and 140 because I wanted to reduce the number of boxes and thought I would keep it, then I heard the Atom, Star and Nova at a Naim event and after some thought got the Star.
When I got the Star I kept the lite and use it in my dinning room and kitchen with an old pair of Rega Ela’s I hadn’t got around to selling. Will be getting some smaller speakers for this system so maybe won’t be an upgrade or a sideways grade.
Having heard a Star partnered with a power amp, I must admit if a sutiable secondhand amp at the right was stumbled across I would be very tempted. But in the meantime, I am telling myself I have stopped upgrading. Suspect this could be similar though to telling myself I won’t be upgrading my 5D4 or getting another lens.
Yes a verrrrrrry long-winded, “no.” 
… and a qualified guess a NAH to the 552? 
Enjoy a not dissimilar system to what I used to run. Just make yourself a promise NOT to listen to the 500 DR now. ATB Peter
I wish!
Strong plans not to consider 500 - ludicrous cost for two (and the two racks are already quite high enough thank you very much) but a single one could at some point be considered I suppose to reduce the number of boxes 
. The 300s aren’t dr’d anyway so that is something else to think of
Hi Bluesfan,
I found the qutest to be a very detailed dac and it sounded great at first but after extended listening i found it to be a bit artifical sounding. Hard to explain but the dac v1 just sounds more natural to me with a more impactful bass.
I tried a few different interconnects and usb cables but just couldn’t get it to work for me. I even bought a mcru linear power supply which I felt was a slight improvement but the sonic signature didn’t change.
I still have the qutest and have tried it a couple of times as i keep reading how good it is but always end up returning to the dac-v1.
My last upgrade was from CDS to CDS II in 1999, so I guess the answer is, “maybe, because the performance of my system has reached a level that I am satisfied with.”
Yes, I am completely cured. As if!
Temporary halt due to lack of money
Yes indeed. Stopped upgrading now having lived with 552/500 for a few years.
In fact I decided to start moving back down the ladder and go back to my roots with some low cost basic stuff.
So now I have 2 systems with olive gear, as well as some new lifestyle stuff (muso, Qb, etc).
Amazingly haven’t quite got round to disposing of the top end stuff yet.
Maybe I am starting a new round of system upgrades😎
Good grief… Absolutely not! 
My system has been somewhat stagnant for several years and all upgrades have been to the cinema/projector side of things as I watch a lot of film and music blurays. A mid life career change was a factor, but also the sense that I’d reached a point where the next level up was going to cost very serous money (I’m currently at Naim Cdi/NAC102/NAP250/HiCAP/SBL level).
I am thinking though of some upgrades in the medium term as I would like to move to NAC52/Supercap, change the SBL’s to passive ATC SCM40’s and bring in another NAP250 to drive the ATC’s harder. The SBL’s would then be used for rear channel cinema use. In short then there’s likely some more upgrades in the pipeline as and when finances permit.
Life though is a balance of priorities. I have a number of hobbies that swallow cash - a TVR, some high end camera gear, guitars and guitar amps - it’s a question of balancing the upgrades between them.
Jonathan G
Sadly it’s not the damage (though they have dinged the PMCs into an unsellable write off) but the time.
Both my wife and I work full time with no nearby family support for kids ages 3 and one. She’s off for a long commute before the sun is up often so for me; after I’ve got the kids up, changed or pottied them, made them breakfast, taken them to daycare, done a full day’s work, picked them up from daycare, given them both a bath, fed them dinner, played with them, brushed their teeth and tucked them in… well I’m just too knackered for music.
I do figure that in 3-4 years it will be better. But without storage space (apartment, not house) it will take up floor space for that time and then it will all be due for recapping. That’s recapping with international shipping and customs duty of 6 boxes! The 2 way shipping is $3k alone! That’s a lot for a system that hasn’t been used in years.
It’s not a done deal yet. I’m still thinking on it until next week when I turn 40.