Often we aspire to getting power amp X or pre-amp Y or speaker Z, believing that adding that specific component will drastically improof the sound quality of our setup.
But more often than not we loose sight of how the component will integrate with the other components in our setup. It may even be that this "best of breed" component does not live up to our expectations eventhough it may be a highly recommended piece of equipment.
It all comes down to "Synergy" - how well each component integrates with the other to give you the sound you want.
Here is my experience over the past 4 months:
My Nuforce P8 pre-amp became faulty and I had to take it back to the retailler to have it fixed. Due to many uncontrollable factors, the fix took longer than expected and I used an Optonica pre-amp that I had in the mean time. However I was never really happy with the sound as it appeared to be very "hard"
Then earlier this week I swapped the Optonica for a Rotel RSP-970 pre-processor and there was an immediate improvement. The Rotel has a fairly lean sound, but was a lot more listenable than the Optonica.
By Tuesday I got my Nuforce pre-amp back and I was taken back to the euphoria of really enjoying my music again. The sound stage returned, higher frequencies became velvety and the bass is SOLID.
This experience made me think that although there are many pre-amps(or Power amps or speakers) that may be way better than what I have, but if each component does not "fit" in with the rest, I will still be searching for what I prefer - a seemingly never ending quest.
For instance I could add a Valve Audio Predator to my setup or replace my pre-amp with a super duper valve pre-amp and not like the result as besides the synergy between components, there is also personal tastes that has to be brought into the equation.
In the end I believe there nothing such as the "best" add on to any sound setup and you have to let your ears decide what is the best for you(and then let your wallet make the final decision ;D)
But more often than not we loose sight of how the component will integrate with the other components in our setup. It may even be that this "best of breed" component does not live up to our expectations eventhough it may be a highly recommended piece of equipment.
It all comes down to "Synergy" - how well each component integrates with the other to give you the sound you want.
Here is my experience over the past 4 months:
My Nuforce P8 pre-amp became faulty and I had to take it back to the retailler to have it fixed. Due to many uncontrollable factors, the fix took longer than expected and I used an Optonica pre-amp that I had in the mean time. However I was never really happy with the sound as it appeared to be very "hard"
Then earlier this week I swapped the Optonica for a Rotel RSP-970 pre-processor and there was an immediate improvement. The Rotel has a fairly lean sound, but was a lot more listenable than the Optonica.
By Tuesday I got my Nuforce pre-amp back and I was taken back to the euphoria of really enjoying my music again. The sound stage returned, higher frequencies became velvety and the bass is SOLID.
This experience made me think that although there are many pre-amps(or Power amps or speakers) that may be way better than what I have, but if each component does not "fit" in with the rest, I will still be searching for what I prefer - a seemingly never ending quest.
For instance I could add a Valve Audio Predator to my setup or replace my pre-amp with a super duper valve pre-amp and not like the result as besides the synergy between components, there is also personal tastes that has to be brought into the equation.
In the end I believe there nothing such as the "best" add on to any sound setup and you have to let your ears decide what is the best for you(and then let your wallet make the final decision ;D)
