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Your Best Audio System Upgrade of 2023?

Richard Lines said:
Good evening all,

As previously reported elsewhere on the forum it would have to be somewhere between going active with 10 channels of SE amplification, trying out EI transformers and fitting more GKI acoustic panels.

Regards

Richard
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A lot of stock is put into toroidal transformers but laminated types are just fine IME & don’t hum when there’s too much DC on the lines.
 
My only change in 2023 was to fit some Isoacoustics Gaias to my Naim SL2s. I'm a bit non-plussed as to how they work, but they do seem to make a subtle difference. Bass lines are a bit more tuneful, and there's a hint of better flow. Fitting them requires a complete strip down of the SL2 so that in itself could be a factor.
 
Chris said:
Beacuse they’re the cheapest, without a doubt the Addis pads. I played around with them when #windhoek first let the cat out of the bag and they are still in place under nigh on everything.In equal 2nd place MikeP’s blue belt and JohnR’s insoles.
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I shall have to search for Addis pads now !
 
This is the first year in… years, that I haven’t changed a thing. I’ve browsed a lot and read a lot, but nothing has tempted me to change what is a perfect lovely setup now. Almost bought a new tonearm, but was too late for the deal. So maybe that’ll be this year’s upgrade. Maybe I’ll look at trying a valve preamp - or a passive pre? Or maybe I’ll make it to two years without an Upgrade/Sidegrade!!
 
For me it was finally finding an amplifier that gave me everything I was looking for sound wise. That ended up being the gorgeous Luxman L509X.

It gave me more life, clarity and resolution than the hegels I tried, and with more heft and muscle than the audio analogue amp I tried.

The phono stage built in was easily as good as the two circa £1500 externals I’d had previously and saves me a box.

Barring failure or problems, it’ll be end game amp for me
 
It seems I only changed two things during 2023, which is very interesting in and of itself - I am striving to do less in 2024.

But those two were quite significant:
  1. Added Gaia II isolaters to my Olympica IIs. I had little doubt that this would be an impactful addition, but I have been delaying it due to the fact that the speakers being slanted means I would have to add spacers to the front feet (the Olympica II's have longer spikes in the front). I was worried that it would disturb the design language of the speaker immensely, but I bit the bullet and haven't looked back. Luckily I got a hold of the M8 spacers that IsoAcoustics designed specifically for slanted Sonus Faber speakers.

    The improvement to sound quality, especially in the bass region, is very far from slight.

  2. Added an EMT mono cartridge to the system (EMT TMD 015) and that upped the mono game by quite a lot. The AT33Mono that was there was by no means a slouch, but the EMT is a bit better in conveying the mono magic.
P.S. I did some additions to the cartridge stable near the end of the year, but as those have not yet found their way to the system - would not yet consider them upgrades.
 
I bought a Radford STA15 amplifier to test against my Leak Stereo 20 and it has pulled everything together in a way I'd only dreamed of.
Honourable mention for the Van den Hul MC1 Special cartridge I bought at the start of 2023; hard to believe I've only put 115 hours on it in the last year - must try harder!
 
I hadn't changed a thing in years (added to yes, but the basic system has been constant for the past 12 years). However, during the last three months of 2023 I went on a mad splurge:

1. Out went my four Exposure XVI mono amps, in came Exposure MCX mono power amps. My almost 40-year ownership of Farlowe-era Exposure amps came to an end. They're now fully Tony Brady era models (MCX pre and power).
2. The Whest PS30 phono amp morphed into a PS40 RDT SE.
3. The addition of an eSseCi Design Relaxa 750 Maglev isolation platform under my Trio L-07D turntable.
4. EWA IC-25 balanced XLR between the Whest and the Exposure pre.

I've spent a happy Christmas period bedding all this stuff in and enjoying albums I haven't played for years. Now I really must shift some bits and pieces to offset the expenditure. I can't imagine buying anything else in 2024.
 
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