grainy sounding high end system

All the pieces of the puzzle are of high pedigree so one would think the resulting sound would be fantastic, but it isn't for some reason. Room acoustics, cables, your state of mind and many other factors(some of which we can never conquer completely...our power source) all play a role of our perception of sound quality. I'm sorry your system is not providing you the pleasure you seek. I'll venture to guess that your system is deprived of the necessary power(current)to sound the way it should. The cause could be where you live, whom you share power with, the power provider, the condition/age of the service line entering your home, the circuit providing power to your outlets, your outlets, your power cord....I personally would look into this before I would depart on an expensive, possible futile equipment swapping adventure. Do experiment with different cabling within your system on an in-home trial basis. Please add more information so more knowledgable advice from others could be suggested. Does it always sound this way? Are there times when things sound better? Hope it works out for the better. Bill

The comment made by "Zaikeman" that situations like this are more common than many audiophiles care to admit is right on. Surely an uphill battle with so details (many of which "Benthar" addressed) that need our attention/fine tuning. One another comment I'd like to make is that components need to "settle in." I've noticed recently with the new set of speakers that I've bought that everytime I move them about trying to find their best position in my living room the bass/warmth takes time to develop. This is frustrating but one must have patience. The point made about leveling speakers and making sure they don't wobble are excellent points. "Stanley" makes a small all plastic
level(around$4) that works great. I personally never realized quite how much such little things influence system performance until recently. Many lessons to be learned!