[tparm]

I am tparm and live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, USA. I have a dedicated listening room which I built around a 7.2.4 surround rig and promptly upon moving in sold all my gear (which had taken years to collect) including the built in rack from my wall and focused on 2CH. Currently have a Node usb to Denafrips Iris I2S to Pontus II out to a Naim SuperNait 3 powering Cornwall IVs. I am pleased but feel my streamer / DAC situation could be improved upon (and visiting CAF this weekend didn’t help that at all!). I am here to learn, chime in if I feel I can help and share thoughts when appropriate. Thanks.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

What is your budget?

[WGH]

It sure looks like your electronics are appropriately matched to the speakers. I have never heard the Cornwall IVs but owned the Klipsch Quartet speakers for 28 years starting in 1991. The sweet sounding Adcom GTP400 preamp and GFA 535 amp combo was a perfect match for the Quartets. After an upgrade I discovered that not all electronics mate well with Klipsch speakers. Super detailed or bright sounding electronics are a no-go, especially when listening at live or concert levels.

Wondering what cables and speaker wire is being used. Technology has advanced to the point that a change in wiring can be as significant as a change in electronics. I switch out all my USB and interconnect cables to Hapa Audio. I have tried many different brands and Hapa are the only cables that disappear. There is currently a tour happening so you may be able to try before you buy. I never knew any of the prices when I auditioned, I just knew I had to have them.

The Aero Cu USB and Quiescence S (Silver) RCA would be a good match up. The Ember copper RCA is more affordable but I haven't heard it.

The Hapa Audio circle
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=45

[Phil A]

Welcome!

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome to AC 

[WGH]

Jason, the owner/builder of Hapa Cables posted a tour update, there is an opening but you will have to act fast.

Nick,
You’re welcome and I appreciate your interest in the tour! I think you brought up something that I think is very important. Interconnects should NOT be an afterthought. As audiophiles, we’re often fed really bad advice on interconnects merely being an “accessory” and along with that false assertion, we’re given advice to limit our budget on the to 10-15% of the overall system cost. While well intending, this is incredibly bad advice. Ignoring interconnects and going with inferior products results in numerous and severe bottlenecking in one’s system. Like any other component in a system, an interconnect is incredibly important.

The concept with Haiku is to create an ideal and invisible connection between components. As you have experienced first hand for yourself, you haven’t actually heard your system until you’ve had the very best interconnects in place. That is fundamentally what occurred for you, a shifting of what you thought possible without buying all new gear. 

The tour marches forth! I had a cancellation, if there’s someone who’s interested in trying Haiku out in their own rig send me a PM! We’ll make it happen.

I have been mentioning cables because all the systems you liked at CAF probably used high end cables. If they used Radio Shack cables from the 1970's you probably would not have liked the sound half as much.

[GeorgeAb]

Welcome to AC! IMO, your system is appropriately balanced and the room looks dimensionally like it would work well. Kudos on addressing acoustic treatment. To address your query about improving your streamer / DAC situation, IMO your front end is really solid with great isolation from computer (Node USB) with your DCC and quality DAC. Not sure if you are using Roon with your Bluesound Node or using DSP. The computing power of the Bluesound Node may be limited for using DSP to EQ to the room curve. Always a good place to start is taking some measurments with Room EQ Wizard (REW) to see what you are working with, from a decay (room treatment) and frequency response standpoint. Happy listening, solid system you have there.   

[timind]

Welcome to AC.

As for improving your streaming, look at Lumin streamers. About a year ago my  Node 2i started acting up so I bought a used Lumin D2. It is a dream to listen to. I run it straight into my Benchmark amp using the Lumins volume control. This beat my previous setup with a Benchmark DAC3 HGC feeding a Benchmark HPA-4 pre into the amp. So this $1500 streamer alone bested the $4500 front end it replaced.

Every time I consider moving up the Lumin line, I sit for a listen and say, "nah."