I agree with replacing the pre, hafler is quiet grainy on the highs. However you didn't say how much money you want to spend to correct the problem. A tube pre would definitely help your problem.
The Acurus cd player can be bright in the " wrong " system. Monster cables ( in my opinion ) suck! So anything would be an upgrade over these, Kimber, Audioquest, Nordst, etc. Their are a number of cheap interconnects that would help a little, but they would indeed only be a bandaid.
The Acurus cd player can be bright in the " wrong " system. Monster cables ( in my opinion ) suck! So anything would be an upgrade over these, Kimber, Audioquest, Nordst, etc. Their are a number of cheap interconnects that would help a little, but they would indeed only be a bandaid.