What's Your Weakest Link in Your Hi-Fi

**geekwithfamily** · **12-10-06, 09:19 PM**

I've just been re-reading all my Audio Perfectionist Journals and the author, Richard Hardesty, had this comment on system building: [paraphrasing] "You must have great loudspeakers to hear differences between power amps, great amps to hear differences between preamps and processors, and great preamps to hear differences between sources, great sources let you hear the differences between recordings."

So he's suggesting you build your system from the loudspeaker back (though every section is important). But what if you've made a comprimise along the way.

I don't have a dedicated CD player or DAC. My weakest link is my Pioneer DV-47ai Universal player. I bought it when it looked like SACDs and DVD-As still had a chance (now I can't even sell the coasters and the cases are a funny shape so I have to store them separately). I wish I could upgrade to an Arcam or Ayre CD player. I have enjoyed using an Apple Airport Express as a digital transport, but I have to feed it to my AV receiver's DAC, not as nice as say a Benchmark DAC1.

What breaks your system chain? What's your weakest link? What would you love to replace that could free the rest of your components?

**Danny** · **12-10-06, 11:07 PM**

I would say that it is still my speakers - when I have the cash to pay $10000 per speaker that would change but i'm also wondering whether it would be worth the extra $'s when the improvement over $1000 speakers may mean that they only sound 3times better (even though they are 10 times the price).

**drf** · **12-11-06, 02:23 AM**

my amp is my weakest link, since my Akia died I have been using an old underpowered P.A amp with a noisy pre

. Oh well when the money comes

**lcaillo** · **12-11-06, 07:34 AM**

In the vast majority of systems that I have experienced (hundreds, thousands) the biggest limitating factor has been the speakers and their interaction with the room.

**Darren** · **12-11-06, 09:54 AM**

My ears.

**Wayne A. Pflughaupt** · **12-11-06, 08:28 PM**

Quote:

geekwithfamily wrote:

I've just been re-reading all my Audio Perfectionist Journals and the author, Richard Hardesty, had this comment on system building: [paraphrasing] "You must have great loudspeakers to hear differences between power amps, great amps to hear differences between preamps and processors, and great preamps to hear differences between sources, great sources let you hear the differences between recordings."

He was almost making sense until that last part. Even a decent mid-fi system like mine can show the differences between recordings!

Quote:

What breaks your system chain? What's your weakest link? What would you love to replace that could free the rest of your components?[/

Seeing as I haven’t bought any new gear in eight years, except a BFD, I’d say pretty much everything in my system is a weak link! But more specifically, I’d say my throw-down DIY subs.

Regards,
Wayne

**Ayreonaut** · **12-14-06, 10:42 AM**

My living room. The dimensions and surfaces are fine, but doors, windows and necessary furniture locations quash a proper set up. Unfortunately, a new room is an expensive piece of "gear!"

Maybe in a couple of years...

**rcarlton** · **12-17-06, 08:05 AM**

My preamp is the weakest link. It is a 1998 Denon AVR-3200. It is just getting long in the tooth and technology (read digital formats) has passed it by.

Preamp is no longer the weak link...upgraded to an Outlaw 990.

My DVD player....Denon DVD-2200 held up well against a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C in test of Redbook CD's. Picture looks pretty good. No need to upgrade yet, until the DVD wars are over.

Upgraded the DVD player to an Oppo DV-981HD. I like upconverting to 720p

.

**Eric_C** · **12-25-06, 06:05 PM**

My wallet

If anyone has one stuffed to spare I could fix it all.

**newmann** · **01-30-07, 02:50 AM**

my wife
she

thinks we should pay for other things too with our income (food, bills, clothes etc) than just for the stereo
is she crazy or what???

**mulveling** · **02-17-07, 09:16 AM**

My true weak links:

My room (nasty suspended wood floor), lack of more rigorous acoustic treatments (working on that), slightly sub-optimal speaker placement (big 'ol HD CRT TV in the middle).

My speakers are definitely not the weak link; I've auditioned them extensively in a much more optimal environment (my friend's room before he sold them to me) and they're exactly what I want in a 2ch system.

Electronically - I'd like to experiment with power amps next. I've gone through plenty of electronics and I feel that the amp that interfaces with the transducer (power amp for speakers; headphone amp for headphones) makes a larger difference than the line drivers (preamps), cables, and sources. I really like my PS Audio amp; I think it's a lot of musicality for the price - yet I'd like to see if I can do better. Next I'd like to try biamping with a pure class A amp (Pass Labs or Sugden) for the mids/highs and the PS Audio for bass. The new PS Audio amps also look nice.

**norpus** · **03-06-07, 05:44 PM**

I am thinking at this stage its my old Esoteric P500/Benchmark DAC1 combo - would a new dedicated CDP like a Consonance Droplet or an SACD/CD player like a 2nd hand MF kWSACD bring out a bit more life. It may be paranoia - a home demo or two if I can arrange it would tell me

**geekwithfamily** · **03-07-07, 08:09 AM**

Norpus

Have you considered ditching CDPs altogether and ripping lossless audio to a computer that then streams to a wifi music transport/player like Slim Devices' Transporter? After all the ripping is done it is a more convenient way to listen to music and sound quality is in league with CDPs higher in price.

Otherwise, the Droplet sure is pretty, but I would definitely home demo the tube sound.

Oh and I'll take the Benchmark off your hands, I think the going rate is $5 USD

with free shipping from Australia.

**norpus** · **03-08-07, 03:15 AM**

Thanks for the reply - is it truely the best SQ though? (this is important)
I have considered it - a mate swears by the Sonos.
However, playing with PC's is what I do at work and thats enough for me
Maybe its the ritual of cds like the ritual of cleaning vinyl is to others?
I just bought another 20cds today - I even found that therapeutic - retail therapy

**Bob in St. Louis** · **03-08-07, 05:55 AM**

As I read throught the thread I had been accumulating my own list of weak links. I was dissappointed to see that some of you also have the same weak links.
- Wallet
- Wife
- Room

norpus, the Droplets are cool. Very nice indeed and they sound wonderful. But to take advantage of equipment like that you must have sooo many other things absolutely perfect. I agree with the geek, go high tech. I played a little with a boulder modded SB3. Those are cool, very slick. They sounds perfect, and you can keep all the discs you love so much too

Just my $.02
Bob

**terry j** · **03-08-07, 06:47 AM**

Hi Bob

Norps does have some nice gear to go with it, check out his luurverly looking front end in his avatar, but what you can't see in that pic is some delicious sounding IB's as well.

Down this side of the planet it's a bit of a running joke. See he is also a kiwi (in case you don't know a kiwi is the national symbol of New Zealand, a flightless bird), and their national team in the game of Rugby Union are called the All Blacks which is usually abbreviated to AB. He of course happens to fly the national flag for that team ( which, as much as it pains me to say as an Aussie ) are arguably the best in the world, by signing off IB IB IB ( corruption of course of AB AB AB ) and in so doing acknowledges two world class acts at once! If you get my drift ha ha ha.

**Bob in St. Louis** · **03-08-07, 07:02 AM**

HA ha Terry! Gotcha!

(I'd love to see a link to his AB's, I mean his IB's

)

Bob

**FlashJim** · **03-13-07, 03:31 PM**

My problem is my subwoofer. It needs a new system.

**spin** · **03-31-07, 10:06 AM**

If I were to upgrade any of my equipment right now, my sub would have to go first. Next would probably be the AVR (I want to make my life more complicated by going separates).

However, I'm not about to do any of those yet, as I'm planning to get myself a BFD in the near future.

**majorloser** · **03-31-07, 12:58 PM**

My room or theater.

It's too small for everything I want to put in it

**Bob in St. Louis** · **04-03-07, 01:25 PM**

Quote:

majorloser wrote:

My room or theater.

It's too small for everything I want to put in it

The wife and I built this house 5-6 years ago. My HT room is about finished. She didn't think it was very funny when I suggested we needed to build another house so I could have a larger room with 12' ceilings and do all of the things I didn't get to do on this house.

Women just don't understand.

Bob

**JCD** · **04-03-07, 09:01 PM**

Been said before, but it bears repeating:

The room.

It's laid out horribly.. there are no treatments.. there are a lot of hard/reflective surfaces.. etc

The rest of it is actually ok. Good speakers, decent receiver, decent DVD player. Horribly room/layout.

The following is purely rhetorical (I don't want to hijack the thread), but I wonder what people put as the relative weight for the different items in their system.

JCD

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