My system is listed in my signature, so I won’t waste your pixels on it here!
In the past couple of months, I have made several changes to my system, and I figured it is time to give the folks responsible their due.
Frank Dai – Signal Cables – PC for my Sugden integrated.
Wayne – Bolder Cables – M-80 IC, and indirectly - digital cable, PSU, and smart modded ART DIO
Gary – Pandafeet – 4 medium gray sorbothane feet
Walmart – inner tube for child’s bicycle
Hamilton Builder Supply – slate slab, granite cobblestone
The smART received digital signal from my RCA Scenium (now a transport) via the Bolder cable. The PSU powers the smART, the M-80's feed the Sugden. The PC replaced an 18g (!) powercord on my Sugden integrated. The granite cobblestone is on top of the smART, the Pandafeet are under the smART, on the slate slab, on the lightly inflated inner tube, ALL on top of my rack. Whew!
Now, I love music, and I consider myself a small "a" audiophile. That is to say, that my mortgage and car payments come first, and my wife is intimately familiar with each and every piece of audio gear I own.
I have owned most of my present system for 10 years now, and I have always enjoyed it for the investment I scraped together in university. I have had the upgrade itch in the past, but could not reconcile what I heard, for the $$ asked. Then I started to read about the ART, and the Bolder mods. Sounded like good sound was getting more available, at prices closer to what I should afford. Picked up some used, but excellent gear from a couple of guys on the Headfi forum, and then contacted Wayne directly, to beg for a used set of M-80 IC, to complete my front end upgrade. He came through in king size for me.
Some audiophiles have the patience to insert upgrades individually, and report back on how each piece took them closer and closer to their goal. I regret to inform that I am not one of them.
As the boxes arrived in the mail, into my system they would go. I left it running 24/7 for the better part of 4 weeks, with only the odd chance to sit down to listen – 3 month old daughters will do that for you…
In the end, I spent some cash with people that I had never met, on products (used, all but the PC from Signal Cables) that I had only read online about. The result of all those changes?
Great sound that I like, in my system. 
The highest praise I can give, is from a friend of mine who sat down in my chair, and said – you know I won’t hear the difference when you swap in the DAC, why are you bothering? He doesn’t own gear, and figures it is all beyond him. The funny thing was his immediate shift facially, when the ART took over. This was a test where I would switch the amp back and forth between the analog outputs of my RCA, to the ART inputs. He described it as the difference between how his TV looks either with DVD, or regular TV. Another great friend of mine, we built him a nice set of floorstanders last year, just said “leave it that way, and get me another beer”. He and I had been talking about an amp upgrade for him, but he now understands why I suggest he at least listen to upgrading his source first.
Thanks to all of you for selling me this great stuff, but equally for all those here who share their excellent experiences with great products, so that others can expand how they might seek to make improvements in their own systems.
As for me, what I hear in the music, is a dramatic increase in air around the voices, much better resolution in the treble, and I even turned down my sub…There is an increased sense of “being there”, or is that "them being here?". I think that the individual benefits of each of the upgrades that I have recently done, have all been explored in detail around here, I just wanted to give a shout out to some great products, and fantastic people that supply them.
Mark in Canada
