I must agree with all those who suggest speaker placement and room acoustics as a first step. Speaker placement is free, except for your time, and room treatments can be as simple as rugs and curtains or as complex as ASC or EchoBuster acoustic panels and bass traps. Both can make or break a system - no matter how good the equipment. There are a number of web-sites and magazine articles that have helpful tips and hints on how to go about placing speakers. I was, and am still, having a problem with certain bass frequencies. Robert Harley's book on high-end audio talks about room resonance modes (frequencies that are exaggerated due to the room). I used his formulas and calculated the resonance modes. I went to Radio Shack and bought a handy-dandy SPL meter and tested his theories. And what do you know?...the calculated modes matched pretty closely to the measured ones. My point is, that I could have assumed that it was my speakers, or my amp, or my preamp, or...well, you get the picture. Now, an amp with thinner bass would probably work well. But, in my opinion that wouldn't fix the real problem. The room is the real problem. Think about upgrading electronics *after* doing the free stuff...speaker placement and room acoustics (I suppose rugs and curtains aren't exactly free). Whose knows, you might find that your system is as good as you need it to be for the moment.
Best upgrade for the money ?
My system is currently comprised of a Sim Audio integrated amplifier, Micromega Stage 2 CD player, and Polk speakers. I'd like to improve the overall sound of my system but don't know where to start. I have good not great interconnects - Wireworld. My speaker cable is MIT(again better than average). I'm using the power cords that came with my equipment. Can anyone suggest where my money might best be spent to upgrade my system. I guess what I'm asking is what would have the most impact for say 500 - 700 dollars. Tweaks, better interconnects, higher end power cords? Any and all input would be helpful. Thanks - Rob