Those Nestovoriic's are very capable. The Onkyo isn't giving you a clue of their potential. Whether tube or ss, amp upgrade will make a big difference. Your paring is like Pirelli racing tires on a skateboard.
Tube route generally costs more $/watt, but with reasonable 91db rating you don't need a ton of power. Tube amps with 4ohm taps should be well able to do the job. Used tube amps often have simple circuits, so you can think of new tubes almost as an amp upgrade; a good amount of what you hear will be tube- dependent. Push pull topology with common & available tubes(e.g. EL34, KT88) are a smart choice. Music Reference and Rogue amps are good options.
If you prefer ss, Nelson Pass's First Watt value brand and Odyssey are both worthy contenders.
You could do that and still upgrade cart for $2k total. Hang on to old cart and sell it with the table when you eventually upgrade that.
This route will at least let you hear what the table is capable of before you make a change.
Cheers,
Spencer
Tube route generally costs more $/watt, but with reasonable 91db rating you don't need a ton of power. Tube amps with 4ohm taps should be well able to do the job. Used tube amps often have simple circuits, so you can think of new tubes almost as an amp upgrade; a good amount of what you hear will be tube- dependent. Push pull topology with common & available tubes(e.g. EL34, KT88) are a smart choice. Music Reference and Rogue amps are good options.
If you prefer ss, Nelson Pass's First Watt value brand and Odyssey are both worthy contenders.
You could do that and still upgrade cart for $2k total. Hang on to old cart and sell it with the table when you eventually upgrade that.
This route will at least let you hear what the table is capable of before you make a change.
Cheers,
Spencer