Next Step to Great Stereo System

[Joe]

I've had an ok HT 6.1 setup in the basement for a few years. I'd like to now turn it more into a listening room with great stereo sound, and want to do this piece by piece over the next few years.

What would be the few next best items (budget might be up to $1000 every 6 months) to buy to either replace or add to what I have currently so I get significantly improved music.

My musical tastes are mainly all kinds of rock, but I would like the system to be fairly well-rounded.

My current HT setup (related to audio):
Marantz SR7002 Receiver
Paradigm Monitor 7 v4 floors
SVS PB10-NSD 10" Subwoofer
(I also have the center, surrounds and one center rear)

My room is about 32x20 (open concept basement).

I don't need it to be super-loud, just significantly better than what I have at mid volumes.

Thought about a quality pair of headphones, but thought I'd get more out of upgrading stereo.

[poppachubby]

What are you using for sources? Personally I think you will need a decent amp to start - your speakers aren't bad. You could stay with the H/T and upgrade to something like this... XPA-5 | 200W x 5 | Emotiva Audio | High-end audio components for audiophiles and videophiles, spanning 2-channel music systems, as well as 5.1 and 7.1 home theaters. Products include multichannel amplifiers, stereo amplifiers, and monoblock amplifier. From there you would probably want a better pro, but sources could be an issue too.

[Joe]

My music sources are all FLAC files on my NAS played through a network streaming device.

Would the XPA significantly improve the music sound from my Paradigm floors? There wouldn't be a bottleneck in the chain anywhere?

[Mr Peabody]

If you add a power amp it will not cause a "bottleneck", you will use the preamp outputs, assuming your receiver has them, directly to the power amp, this bypasses your receiver's internal amp, so in effect you upgrade your power amp to higher quality. Do your research on any Emotiva, there seems to be an increase in quality issues there. Marantz offers a decent multichannel amp for under $1k, or you could opt for just upgrading to a stereo amp to drive the main front speakers which may be all you use for music unless into multichannel recordings. $1k, give or take, can by a pretty decent power amp. Rotel has a stereo amp 200x2 I thought pretty good for around $1300.00, it's a digital amp.

OK, now to my recommendation. For improvement in your sound look for a better DAC (digital to analog converter) to decode your music files. I am a source guy, obviously all components are important, weakest link etc. however, if you don't get the detail from the source nothing you do downstream will allow you to hear that lost detail. So get the best source you can, then do your best to maintain it throughout the system. There are so many DAC's out now that will accept streaming and all types of inputs and even upsampling. $1k is a nice budget for a DAC. I don't stream so can't give a recommendation of any certain brand, read some reviews and if deciding to try buy from a retailer that will allow a return if not happy. You might start with PS Audio and Benchmark.

[blackraven]

I agree with Mr. P. Start with a good source. The Bench Mark DAC is a nice piece and a good place to start. It can be used as a DAC and Preamp if needed. Then I would upgrade the amp then the preamp. A speaker upgrade would also make a huge difference.

For an amp, I would take a look at this Parasound A52 multichannel amp over an Emotiva.

Parasound - Halo A52 Five-Channel Amplifier-Audio Advisor

Other options are to buy a nice 2ch amp for the 2 front speakers and use the Marantz amp for the other channels of your HT system.

[Joe]

...

Other options are to buy a nice 2ch amp for the 2 front speakers and use the Marantz amp for the other channels of your HT system.

What nice 2ch amps would be a good?

Also, would I still be able to get full surround sound during movies setting it up this way?

[Joe]

I agree with Mr. P. Start with a good source. The Bench Mark DAC is a nice piece and a good place to start. It can be used as a DAC and Preamp if needed. Then I would upgrade the amp then the preamp. A speaker upgrade would also make a huge difference.

For an amp, I would take a look at this Parasound A52 multichannel amp over an Emotiva.

Parasound - Halo A52 Five-Channel Amplifier-Audio Advisor

Other options are to buy a nice 2ch amp for the 2 front speakers and use the Marantz amp for the other channels of your HT system.

Is the Arcam rSeries Sonlink any good for my purpose?
Just thinking I'll likely pick up a Sonos Connect so I can easily play my music through a nice interface, but sure if I should save up a bit longer and invest in a better DAC as suggested.