Curious what everyone’s upgrade paths look like for 2023. I’m debating a few options, as I sold a few headphones this year due to knowing my tastes better than ever and am down to just the Audeze LCD-X 2021 and Sennheiser HD 6XX, driven by a JDS Labs Atom+ stack.
My preferred genres are rock, classic rock, alt-country and hard bop and piano jazz.
Options:
Buy another kilobuck headphone, perhaps closed back. Looking closely at ZMF Aeolus as warm, relaxed chill can. Wondering if it will be too close to LCD-X or HD 6XX in signature to justify $1,000+ expense, though. Also considering used MM-500, but will that be just a small upgrade to LCD-X 2021?
Buy a headphone between $500 and $1,000, perhaps boutique. Definitely have my eye on Meze 109 Pro, but again, I wonder how much different it is to the LCD-X 2021 or if it’s that much better. The Aurorus Borealis intrigue the hell out of me. Love the concept of supporting a boutique manufacturer.
Improve existing gear, especially source chain. Already all but sold at buying ZMF pads for my HD 6XX to reinvigorate those. But also considering an upgrade in fidelity and power for my Atom+ stack. Would like to stay at $500 or less for new stack. Have no clue what that next step would be, so I appreciate any and all advice.
Try the Grado sound. I demoed the 325x in August at a shop in Seattle and was surprised how much I enjoyed them. Comfort is a question, though, because I’m not big on on-ear cans.
Buy some cheap IEMs and sit still and enjoy the music. There’s also a small part of me that just says get Truthear Hexa and Salnotes Zero as cheap but good IEMs to satisfy my closed-back needs, and then just sit pat for a few months and enjoy the music. Yeah, I know: Fat chance!
Appreciate any and all advice here. Would love to also read about your upgrade plans for 2023!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!
I’ve got a few purchases to make, presuming nothing unforeseen happens.
DAC upgrade: Currently looking at either the Mojo Mystique X or the Totaldac d1-core. Would be nice to just say “screw it” and get the Totaldac d1-six, but that’s too much and would take away from other necessary purchases for the chain I want to build.
Tube amp: I want to build a chain for the Utopia, and that means a nice tube amp. Current front-runner is the LTA MZ3. Also considering the Cayin HA-300B MKII, or possibly the Woo Audio WA23 if I push the budget.
Focal Utopia: Haven’t quite made up my mind if I’m going to get the Newtopia or pick up a used 2020 model for almost half price. My heart’s set on the New, but my head says look at how much you save for practically the same HP.
???: Gets more unclear from this point. Do I pick up a Susvara? A Bakoon and then a Susvara? Or do I fix cables and interconnects at this point? Not really sure.
If you go with option 3, did you give any consideration to just getting a better amp first, and then upgrading your DAC later? In my case I upgraded my amp first, then my headphone, followed by my DAC. The new amp was a noticeable improvement in sound over my previous one ( Asgard 3 to Soloist 3xp). If you want to keep it under $500, then some like a Topping L70 or Jotunheim 2 might do the trick. If you are set on a stack then a Topping A30 pro + D30 pro would be just slightly above your budget if you are willing to stretch it a bit.
Good luck with your decision, as for me I am taking a break from upgrading in 2023 (hopefully lol). I already purchased a lot in late 2021/2022 ( a lot for me anyway lol): Burson Soloist 3XP + 3A Supercharger, Schiit Audio Bifrost 2/64, Hifiman Arya SE + balanced cables, SJY Audio Wave Planar Headphones, Topping L70 (to use as a preamp for speaker setup), two SMSL A300 amps, and several sets of cables from WBC (XLR x 4, speaker cables…).
Thanks for the tip. Yeah, just upgrading the amp has crossed my mind, too. But I do like the form factor of matched stacks even though that isn’t always the best route to reach optimal sound.
Many decisions ahead. I need to neuter my upgrade lust until I can attend CanJam in New York in late February. My first one, and I’ll probably return home wanting to mortgage my house to buy more gear!
