Very nice review sir Mark! Congrats!
No plans on upgrading your amps? hehe IMO, mas bagay diyan yung mga ultra hi-end amps dahil ultra hi-end din si Stella. Maganda na siya ngayon with the Emotiva monoblocks pero I'm sure malaki pa ang potential niyan.
Maybe you also want to try changing the cables. I was also a non-believer before until recently when I found out that they do make a significant difference in sound. Especially with your system, I'm sure you will hear even the most subtle differences.
And for music/audio, bagay diyan yung Studio Master recordings. These are real 24bit music files usually at 88.2/96/192Khz. Medyo may kamahalan ang albums pero mas maganda ang tunog.
Just sharing my recent discoveries. hehe
Hi Paul!
I suspect that if you have an all-analog system, you might hear differences in cables and amps. The cables and amps behave like crude audio processors, somehow affecting the sound.
However, if you use an all-digital system and do extensive audio digital processing (as I do through Audyssey MultEQ Pro), the effects of those devices is negated and they are therefore not useful.
In my room in particular, since it is relatively narrow, the sound is heavily influenced by boundary effects (the proximity of the speakers to the walls) and without proper equalization, there is a distinct boominess which is not pleasant to hear. I've listened to my old speakers (Maestros) in their new room which is much wider than mine and somehow the boominess is much less than in my room. In other words, the room plays a huge part of the sound and if you don't apply corrections for the effect of the room, the sound will not be great.
In addition, there are a lot of the following material floating in the net, for amps, cables, high-res audio, etc. and a lot of the material is quite compelling:
http://www.matrixhifi.com/contenedor_ppec_eng.htmIn lieu of cables and amps, this is what I'd prefer:
http://www.cine4home.de/tests/projektoren/Sony_VPL-VW1000/Sony_VW1000_Preview.htm4k projector. 4x more resolution than Bluray. It can upscale Bluray to a beautiful 4k picture.