Each of your components can be significantly upgraded. Are you looking to move your system performance up a level? It sounds like you are. Typically I have found you have to roughly double or triple the cost of a component to be assured of a significant improvement in sound. This is a bit overly simplified, but most of my components once were at one level of performance say $1,000, then $2,000, $5,000, $10,000 and finally $20K. I stayed for many years at each level. I have always looked for the next key component to upgrade. Contemporary DACs can be very good and improve at higher levels of cost. I think if you are looking to jump up a level then upgrading the DAC is a good choice. Set your DAC at the next level of performance. I would not worry about what formats of music you own so much as making sure it does contemporary formats. Streaming is here and is the future. My streaming now is better than my analog end ( so of course I ordered a new turntable). So after the DAC you can upgrade the streamer... an Aurender N10 would be a couple levels up (if that is a level you can reach later). Having stepped from a N100 to a W20se I can assure you there are very substantial improvements with each jump in streamer. It is like the analog chain... the closer to the source the bigger the impact it can have. But you need a really good DAC. I am not very familiar with the Mac lines, somewhere in there you would want to upgrade the preamp... probably first, amp last... but that is a personal preference thing.
One way to look at system performance is that of diminishing returns. I have not found that to be personally true. An audio system is like an scientific instrument, the higher the quality the more sensitive the system is to improvements in components. So for me, each increased level of performance have brought greater rewards and satisfaction, outstripping the ever increasing cost. A lot of people that have pursued high end audio have systems costing $20K, $100k and a lot more. Many are not “rich people” but normal folks that have upgraded slowly for decades to achieve the sound they enjoy.
Anyway, kind of sounds like you may be in that camp... so if you think you are then I would go for a separate DAC.
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George
Main: Aurender W20SE music streamer, ARC REF 9SE DAC / CD, Linn LP 12, Koetsu Rosewood SignCartrige, ARC REF 3 Phono Stage, ARC REF 6SE Preamp, ARC 160s amp, Sonus Faber Amati Traditional Speakers,Transparent Ultra IC & SC Library:Aurender N100, Ayre QB9 2020 DAC, Woo WA5-LE amp upgraded tubes, Focal Utopia HP, Sennheiser 800s HP, LCD HP.
Last edited by George Prentice; 01-09-2021 at 03:58 AM.
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