I think I'm about 80% of the way to achieving my dream system. I've been a music & hi-fi system lover since the late 1970s.

Living in England, I spent far too much money that I couldn't afford on my first system before I had even found a decent place to live.

My passion for music and audio has never gone away although in the 1980's marriage initially severely curtailed my system upgrading plans.

These days I try to listen to my system every day (not always possible as my wife is not remotely interested in audio).

I listen to digital and vinyl in equal proportions in my 25 x 15 x 8 (l x w x h in feet) room - it depends on my mood which I play.

The main thrust of my more recent upgrades has been the eradication of mid range hardness and glare at higher volume levels, particularly with digital. I think my hearing must be very sensitive in this region.

Up until the mid 1990's all my amplification was solid state.

However, a friend of mine had been urging me to investigate valve (tube) amps, in an effort to tame the mid range glare in my system.

Things took a turn for the better with the penultimate series of upgrades to my system. I changed my Nakamichi CA-7 preamp for a Cary SLP 2002 and I bought a pair of pre-owned ProAC Response 3's.

I was very pleased with both components. The ProAcs had good bass control and precision in the mid range and treble. The Cary was very good tonally giving a nice weight to the music. The downside was that I felt the trebled was rolled off and lacking space and air.

I lived with the system as it now was for a year. Then out of the blue opportunities arose to purchase a preowned pair of Sonus Faber Amati Homage speakers and also a Conrad Johnson Premier 16LS tube preamp.

Well both components are amazing. The CJ Premier 16 is so natural and has so much space and air between instruments all the way up to the highest frequencies and the Amatis are beautifully detailed right through the frequency spectrum.

I now feel the whole system is moving in the right direction and my next purchase is going to be a Conrad Johnson Premier 350 power amp.

Spare a thought for us poor English. While you guys agonize about shelling out $8,000 for a Premier 350 in the states, it will cost me $15,000 here in England. C'est la vie! as they say.

I would be interested in anybody's comments and once I've got the Premier 350 into the system, I will lookk at cabling and supports.