My wife and I have been giving some casual thought to upgrading the digital front end. We mostly listen to vinyl, but have been playing more streaming lately, and we might just want to jump to the new digital platform. I have a ND5-XS now, so we are considering both the ND5-XS2 (more likely) or the NDX2 (less likely due to expense).The question we have to answer first is when is Qobuz hi-res finally coming to the US, and how will it integrate. We have TIDAL now but prefer jazz and classical. My understanding is Qobuz is the better platform for that.
I’m happy with my Naim boxes and have been upgrading slowly since 95 but now looking to replace my 25 year old Royd Priors. Trouble is I’m not sure what to replace them with.
Because I don’t feel the need to apart from maybe investing in a Core. I am happy with what I have, content currently to play and buy cds, and have no desire to spend £1000’s on kit to photograph to impress.
I haven’t really changed anything since 2003, apart from buying an HDX in about 2014
Why? Because I love the the sound of the rest of my system.
I do however plan to replace the HDX as I’ve now ripped all of my CDs and believe a better source is now available, be it NDX2 or NDS555
Added the Vitus SP103 phono stage into my system 3 weeks ago and apart from a few tweaks to tidy things up I think that will be me done. Sounds better than I ever envisaged, and enjoying vinyl more now than I have for I would say 40 years. Guess the major ‘tweak’ that would be the icing on the cake would be a dedicated listening room, which is possible but at present only a pipedream.
Todays upgrade becomes the norm after a period of time. Choose your period!
I have always taken the view that if I have auditioned something either in my friendly dealer, or better still at home, and I miss it when its gone then its likely I will go for it.
But the law of diminishing returns does eventually bite.
Perhaps the easiest way to avoid upgrades is to not to visit your dealer and not read any reviews. Not much fun though.
Most people on this forum have an interest in upgrading. A bit obvious but it helps if you have the funds.
Douglas
Probably yes because I’ve changed quite a few things in the past 24 months but minor tweaks here and there on Richards advice, in the process of removing all surge protected extension blocks from the house.
I retired early about 18 months ago and wanted to simplify my system as I don’t envisage having loads of spare income to go crazy on hifi, and wanted a system with less boxes. I’ve just finished downsizing my system from a NDX/282/Hicap CB/250 CB to NDX/SN2. I did upgrade my Ruark Sabre IIIs to PMC Twenty5.23s but this was all within my aim of keeping it all cost neutral by selling privately and getting a couple of great ex dem deals.
Have to say I love the sound of my downsized system. My multi-box system was very much a thing from my younger days. Now, I just want a low box count system that sounds great and doesn’t require a remortgage(!) which is what I have, to these ears.
Will I upgrade again? Maybe … but if I did, it would still want to keep the box count down, and any spend would come a long way down on my list of priorities - the great outdoors, travel, music, books, etc, etc.
And who knows what the future and technology holds … so I can’t definitely say I won’t upgrade again in my lifetime … assuming I’ve still got a good few years left!
Having literally just had the system reassembled on Fraim and a Superlimina wired in between the CDS3 and 282 I am done for now. I am though buying quite a lot of CDs particularly classical so mission accomplished. And I need to factor in a cartridge rebuild at some point.
Feeling very happy indeed after a recent move to 272/XPS from 282/HC/NDX/XPS - think it would be hard to upgrade and find such a balance, though if a new 272 is released, I would listen.
AW - you can get high res output from the SBT - you need the Enhanced Digital Output app - goes up to 192k. You need a dac for this to work. Not sure how high your Dacmajic will go.
I know that it goes against the grain here, stillI, I was expecting some honest answers to ‘Why I stopped upgrading?’ on the lines of: Sound is overrated, Small systems sound much more coherent, The cost of upgrading to achieve incremental improvements are obscene, High end gear exposes ruthlessly imperfect (most) recordings… Perhaps I was just dreaming.
There’s something about your use of the word “honest” here that I find jarring.
From what you go on to say, I infer that you’re suggesting that people who have admitted to upgrading to a large, expensive, high-end system are being dishonest, if only with themselves:
Apologies if my inference is incorrect.
I answered earlier in this thread that, like yourself, I haven’t upgraded my (large, expensive, high-end) olive system since 1999. In my case, it’s because I am still satisfied with the performance of my system, which seems like a valid reason to me. I certainly haven’t felt the urge to spend money downgrading to a smaller system in search of a more “coherent” sound or a more forgiving presentation of less than perfect recordings.
Just because others may not think that way doesn’t make their answers dishonest! I presume you meant that the answers have been surprising to you, and because of the way you feel you wonder if they are being honest with themselves?