Why don't you take your setup to a dealer and play around with it? You're guessing the transport, but what would happen if you ditched the AQ and Digital Lens, and then tried the Meridian and MIT with a newer DAC? How about ditching it all and trying a new CD Player? You owe it to yourself to try different combos and see what sounds best to you.
Upgrade transport and lose Genesis Lens?
I currently have a Meridian 500 transport/Audioquest Hawk Balanced Digital Cable/Genesis Digital Lens/MIT Oracle Digital Cable/PS Audio Ultralink DAC. I noticed that when I took out the MIT Oracle cable from the Lens and connected it straight to the transport I got a huge boost in clarity. The sound was so much more cleaner and the pace was a lot faster. I was thinking is that because the Audioquest isn't up to par with the Oracle, should I just get another Oracle to get back that detail or would it be better to sell the Meridian/Audioquest/Genesis and get a new transport. I would probably have about 2,000 to spend on a used transport.
Thanks
Thanks