Griff500

That’s fair... 😂

I seem to recall reading threads where people have changed the internal wiring of various components, including speakers.

Great, thanks for that... now I'm listening to the bloody Bee Gees and, unforgivably, enjoying it.

The 40A really are very good. I don't doubt that the 50ASL are better, as they should be for the price difference. It's the only part of my system I would consider upgrading now as I am very happy with it.

I would only change my SCM40A for SCM50ASLT or above. They seem to work well for my ears with a variety of music (although I don't listen to classical, etc) and I think they are Goldilocks speakers - not too much of anything and just right. My only point of reference was coming from Aries Mini -> Arcam -> Monitor Audio Bronze, which really doesn't seem like a fair comparison to the system I replaced that with (although I always liked the Arcam sound). The WAM has been tremendously helpful to me. I only joined late last year to ask which PMC speakers I should buy...

I remember reading something about this on a forum - possibly Whats Best - where someone had measured this and found that the caps (I think Mundorf) took some time to settle down. Apparently, if they were not used for some time they had to go through this again. Measurements swinging around a bit until they settled down to a consistent level. Some people report sound improving, getting worse, improving, etc, over time until the caps settle down. I wouldn't suggest this means they are 'bad' from new - probably 'better' and 'more better'... So yes, apparently it's a thing, and more of a thing with Mundorf.

They sound really good with my DAVE as well. I’ve not heard the Bartok but I’d expect it to be good. Similar money to my DAVE/M-Scaler combo but I don’t think it could be better.

Enjoy your rather fine choice! You’ve put together a nice system. 👍

Thank god for that - I wasn't entirely off-topic! I do worry that a full surround sound system might introduce more background noise.

I don't think they come up for sale all that often. For some reason people seem to hold onto them... I'm using a 65" Sony A1 OLED and it still produces a stunning picture, but I fancy a bigger screen so I've ordered the Samsung LSP9T UST laser projector and it should be here in a couple of days. I managed to get it for far less over here in Euroland than it is in the UK. I like the idea of not having a huge screen dominating the room and the short-throw projector and electric screen should fit in the room quite well and just leave a box on the cabinet and a blank wall when not in use. Hopefully the picture is good enough during the daylight hours, although I mostly watch TV in the evenings anyway and have music on all day while I'm working. I'm tempted to also get Samsung's new soundbar as well, which is supposed to be pretty good. I might have gone a bit off-topic...

I take your points about registration, although if I've died then I'm not really going to care too much about it. Shunyata users seem to be happy with the products - I don't recall reading any negative comments. The prices certainly can go into the stratosphere with some of their products. The upgraded power supply for the Auralic basically made everything a little bit better ('better' for me generally means more definition in the bass, more separation between instruments, more texture - things I might associate with reduced noise, but I could be entirely wrong about the cause). Personally, I wouldn't say the gains are huge with the G2 and it's got a decent dual power supply in there already - I get the feeling that there are bigger potential gains from doing the same thing with a G1 based on user's comments on the Auralic forum. I've also got all of my equipment connected to an Ansuz C2 distributor with some C2 power cables and that made a worthwhile difference, so perhaps that reduced the impact of the upgraded power supply. I noticed a bigger difference from the better ethernet cable than the Aries power supply, which I found rather bizarre. I am very happy with my system now and I don't feel the need to change anything, so I'm in the process of spunking money on a new TV setup instead.

They do - that's the source used when I did a demo on the ATC SCM40A speakers. It's a very good value all-in-one.

I think you'll find that was the extent of it...

Ethernet cables can make a difference as well. It's certainly not just ones and zeros, as much as some like to think it is.