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What to judiciously invest in next to improve SQ?
#11
I think the first question has to be what effect would you like to achieve.  Warmth, soundstage, detail…?  If general improvements you still need to figure out what your ultimate system sounds like.  Having said that, my 3 pieces of advice are as follows:
 
1.      For me it was room correction.  Until I got that settled, I was forever fiddling with speaker placement, furniture etc.  If going that route, I strongly recommend Thierry at Home Audio Fidelity, the price is very fair and he really works with you.  But get the speakers and furniture where you want first.
2.      I am big believer in quality speaker cables.  Your 2 core components are joined by 1 item, the speaker cable.  Generally, you can try these no charge from a local dealer. As well if you are trying to get detail, warmth, etc. it can help achieve this.
3.       Finally whatever you do, do it well.  This IS an expensive hobby but many times we make it worse by buying something that will make it a little bit better rather than investing to get the long term upgrade and end up upgrading 2 and 3 times.  Good news you have a great start in your Devialet!
 
Good luck, there is no shortage of tweaks to achieve a great end result.
Devialet 220 Pro CI, IsoAcoustics Orea Bronze, B&W 804D's, Isoacoustics Gia II,  PS Audio P12,  Synergistic Research Devialet spec power Cord, Siltech 770L speaker cables, Qobuz, Roon Lifetime
                                    GTA, Canada
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#12
(22-Jan-2019, 06:35)Wdw Wrote:
(22-Jan-2019, 06:16)zambie Wrote: Axel - appreciate the thought here. Agree that the NUC does appear to be a very attractive option as a source. The 1 year Roon license seems to be a good add on. It's staggering how much some of these music server/ streamers are if you go the branded path. My initial assumption is that this would be the last cog of the wheel where I'd manage to extract improvements in SQ (e.g. mac running room over Roon AIR v/s NUC running Roon ...)
Have to disagree.  We had a reasonably optimized Mac Mini with an internal SSD and linear supply with a nice Nordost power cord but a Auralic Aries quickly blew it away. No contest.  No comparison to the Mini...Shortly thereafter a ROON ROCK was installed and everything further improved...these front end things are far more important than, say, a Ted Denny power cord or similar.  IMHO

Interesting observation Wdw ... I was leaning more heavily towards cables and power initially - but this has got me rethinking that. Was working under the impression that a mac as a dedicated music source would work well as long as I've got a good robust transport mechanism through to the devialet. Clearly more homework needed on this front.
Signal path: Macbook Pro (Qobuz/ Vox Player) > Router > CAT 8 Ethernet > Devialet 220 pro > Shunyata Delta speaker cables > Wilson Sabrina speakers

Power path: Wall outlet > Shunyata Delta power cable > Devialet 220 pro
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#13
(22-Jan-2019, 03:25)Pim Wrote: The best money I ever spent was on 'Get Better Sound' by Jim Smith. It's only US$35.- and it gives you some great insight into how to get the best out of your system without changing any equipment. I would go as far as to say that unless you have set up your equipment the best it can be in the room you're not going to get anywhere near as much improvement out of whatever it is you acquire.

If you have money burning in your pockets and you can't do room treatment; speakers first, then the source.

Pim’s advice is sound.

Speaker isolation (de-coupling) was also useful in my space - much more so than coupling.

And playing with DSP and room measurement is useful just because you can see what small EQ changes (in the right places) do - sometimes it’s quite profound. And if you get bored you can change it some more and listen to new details in your albums.

If I could go back in time, id buy a umik-1 and learn a bit about acoustics/rooms before buying any kit/accessories. I left it far too late and it’s really the only way to tweak your setup, or not the only but vital IMO. Otherwise you just don’t know what deficiencies you’re trying to fix (and unless you’re incredibly lucky, you’ll have deficiencies in an average room that no upgrade will fix) and trial and error without any measurements is needle in haystack stuff.

>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase.  <<<

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#14
(22-Jan-2019, 03:56)Wdw Wrote: I



Isolation = three Orea Bronze footers - check out the thread here

do these three things then sit back and enjoy...power groomer/conditioner/regenerator comes later....I suggest AQ Niagara but there are many here that like the PS Audio.

Did you mean the Orea Indigo? In your thread, appears that the Indigo is the one that goes at the very base of the devialet, while the bronze is used between the stack of 2 devialets?
Signal path: Macbook Pro (Qobuz/ Vox Player) > Router > CAT 8 Ethernet > Devialet 220 pro > Shunyata Delta speaker cables > Wilson Sabrina speakers

Power path: Wall outlet > Shunyata Delta power cable > Devialet 220 pro
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#15
(23-Jan-2019, 21:17)zambie Wrote:
(22-Jan-2019, 03:56)Wdw Wrote: I



Isolation = three Orea Bronze footers - check out the thread here

do these three things then sit back and enjoy...power groomer/conditioner/regenerator comes later....I suggest AQ Niagara but there are many here that like the PS Audio.

Did you mean the Orea Indigo? In your thread, appears that the Indigo is the one that goes at the very base of the devialet, while the bronze is used between the stack of 2 devialets?

If you have a single Devialet, as you have, the Bronze are the ones to use...three are just fine...if you're US based they are about $50 each and are just an absolute musical improvement, a bargain.  
If stacking two then the Indigo carries the weight of two units.  In my case I have the Bronze between and the Indigo below.  
Check out the Orea thread on this site and some OT comments on the "Clean Power for Devialet" thread
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#16
(23-Jan-2019, 00:04)Hifi_swlon Wrote: Pim’s advice is sound.

Speaker isolation (de-coupling) was also useful in my space - much more so than coupling.

And playing with DSP and room measurement is useful just because you can see what small EQ changes (in the right places) do - sometimes it’s quite profound. And if you get bored you can change it some more and listen to new details in your albums.

If I could go back in time, id buy a umik-1 and learn a bit about acoustics/rooms before buying any kit/accessories. I left it far too late and it’s really the only way to tweak your setup, or not the only but vital IMO. Otherwise you just don’t know what deficiencies you’re trying to fix (and unless you’re incredibly lucky, you’ll have deficiencies in an average room that no upgrade will fix) and trial and error without any measurements is needle in haystack stuff.

Lots of sound advice ... Smile.. both you and Wdw have given some good insight on the isolation front. Will research a lot more about room acoustics - it's an interesting topic for sure.
Signal path: Macbook Pro (Qobuz/ Vox Player) > Router > CAT 8 Ethernet > Devialet 220 pro > Shunyata Delta speaker cables > Wilson Sabrina speakers

Power path: Wall outlet > Shunyata Delta power cable > Devialet 220 pro
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#17
(23-Jan-2019, 21:32)Wdw Wrote:
(23-Jan-2019, 21:17)zambie Wrote:
(22-Jan-2019, 03:56)Wdw Wrote: I



Isolation = three Orea Bronze footers - check out the thread here

do these three things then sit back and enjoy...power groomer/conditioner/regenerator comes later....I suggest AQ Niagara but there are many here that like the PS Audio.

Did you mean the Orea Indigo? In your thread, appears that the Indigo is the one that goes at the very base of the devialet, while the bronze is used between the stack of 2 devialets?

If you have a single Devialet, as you have,  the Bronze are the ones to use...three are just fine...if you're US based they are about $50 each and are just an absolute musical improvement, a bargain.  
If stacking two then the Indigo carries the weight of two units.  In my case I have the Bronze between and the Indigo below.  
Check out the Orea thread on this site and some OT comments on the "Clean Power for Devialet" thread

Gotya ... isolators are truly an intriguing read .... am still wrapping my head around structural vibrations and feedback ... I'd have scoffed at the notion that mechanical vibrations can cause such impact - especially in the amp ... interest is piqued.
Signal path: Macbook Pro (Qobuz/ Vox Player) > Router > CAT 8 Ethernet > Devialet 220 pro > Shunyata Delta speaker cables > Wilson Sabrina speakers

Power path: Wall outlet > Shunyata Delta power cable > Devialet 220 pro
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#18
I will echo David. I have played with cords, isotek expensive filters, and changing sources. The biggest and greatest impact was when I invited a guy, with measuring equipment and knowledge (he builds very expensive speakers) when he measured, everything was wrong... I had a 45hz mod,, lack of high frequencies and my system sounded sort of ok, but no wow effect ar all. When we moved the speakers and tuned the bass in my active woofers, added HF on Devialet to get right curve, I can only say wow, the effect was simply astonishing. Even this guy got very impressed by the sound that we got. I was on an edge to sell my vandies, and seriously doubted if Devialet is such a great amp before. Week after we had hi end show and I went there, and I noticed that my set up was not much behind seriously expensive ones...
Vandersteen 5A, d220 pro CI , Dyrholm Audio x series cables all the way, qnap 451+,Mac mini Audirvana, dedicated circuits. Moscow Russia
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#19
(22-Jan-2019, 00:36)zambie Wrote: Soliciting advice from the devialet family here ... am sure many of you have been in similar boats thinking about where best/ next to invest to get your rigs to sound just like you want it to!

My journey's been quite basic - have a pair of speakers that aren't the greatest in quality - but they're half decent (martin logan 60xts) compared to some of the setups I've seen here. Personally, I like their forward/ aggressive sound signature and lovely tweeters. In comes the Devialet 220pro/ ci that I'm looking to have as the center of my audio engine for years to come. Haven't invested in audiophile "brand" cables/ interconnects yet - they are half decent - but not audiophile named branded cables. Play everything from my mac through Devialet AIR over ethernet. Intend to keep my setup simple as much as possible

Reading and researching, seems like I have the following areas to potentially improve:
  • Power - currently use a rudimentary panamax mr4000 conditioner - been contemplating about whether a power regenerator (e.g .the ps audio powerplant 10 or 12 look like good upgrades to open up the soundstage & dynamics) - potentially set me back by $5000
  • Power cable to the devialet - currently using stock audioquest power cable - contemplating either cerious technologies/ synergistic research atmosphere devialet spec - potentially set me back by $1000
  • Speaker Interconnects - haven't thought about these - quite happy with the existing set I have
  • Transport layer - Ethernet/ USB cables/ AES/ EBU - don't use any audiophile "branded" companies. Use offbrand shielded ethernet cable from router to the devialet - has been handling well.
  • Music playback - currently use a mac and use a pretty good software called vox to play my music through AIR - ethernet. Just from a SQ standpoint - will Roon make things better (thinking upsampling/ filters?) - $500 for software. Potentially $2500? for Roon Nucleus (phewwww!)
  • Source - Using a mac - are there better options to house and playback my music - NAS/ Roon Nucleus/ NUC/ others? Potentially $1500+
  • Room correction - won't be able to get any physical diffusers - but might be open to a room correction software - e.g. dirac?
  • Others - isolation/ vibration control, 20amp power supply?
With so many potential areas that might be available to improve, what is the most logical place to focus on next from an investment standpoint on maximizing improvement on SQ and three dimensionality of the music in the above? This is an expensive hobby  Confused ... Any thoughts on where you'd focus on improving SQ if you were in my position?

Free-ish: room optimization, speaker placement

Spending money: it would be a toss-up between the NUC and mains IMO.  The right mains don't have to be crazy $$$ and can have a substantial impact on you SQ considering how much the Devialet handles in one box and how that single cable powers it all.  That was the first real tweak I made and I don't regret it at all.  I tried a few cables before making a final purchase, including the Synergistic Devialet Spec designed specifically for the line.  Make sure to demo the cables and be sure that whoever is selling you the cables is familiar with Devialet and the behavior of the range.  thecableco.com is great.
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#20
I'm using Eminent Techonology LFT-8bs

Was at a friend's house with the same speaker setup and McIntosh amps. He had a polished granite slab weighing 24kg attached to the sloping rear of the speakers and two lead "bricks" each weighing 14kg each on the horizontal surface.

When I queried this, he let me listen for 30 mins to a variety of music, then removed all these heavy add-ons. The sound became more diffuse and woolly, if I may describe it this way. Complex orchestral music was poorly defined. So we put it all back

I was amazed that such a simple add-on made such a profound effect

This week I visited a company who installs marble and granite tops for churches. He gave me, free of charge, two granite slabs which have been clamped to the speakers as a first step

My system is driven from a 220 volt pure sine-wave inverter. The wave-form is perfect and there is no noise
                                                           Cape Town - South Africa, the home of good wine
Listening stuff:  Mercury Pi2 / Gentooplayer,  Expert 440PRO CI.  4Tb SSD.  Mogami speaker cable to ET LF8bs, B&W DB1 sub, Power from 7.5kW inverter.  2 x Dachshunds
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