Recently I have been doing the exact same for my system. How do I get it to the next level. I met someone who is a true audiophile and has had more and has more equipment than some dealers that I know. I got to meet with him and hear so many of the major speakers, amps, preamps and CDPs that I always wanted to hear but did not want to deal with the local dealer. The first step is your speakers. You need to know that they are providing you with the sound YOU prefer, not anyone else or what a reviewers says. I had a room issue since I only have 7 foot ceilings in my dedicated finished basement so some of the large speakers I would have liked simply over powered my room. My friend lent me three different pairs so I heard it first hand. I could have used a Rives room correction device and I will get one at a later date when I get more funs.
Next in the system is the match between your speakers and power amp. The amp has to be able to drive the speakers. I originally had B&W 803 matrix II speakers in my system although they are 91 db, they do not work well with tubes versus SS amps (in my price range as I am sure there are some really good tube amps that would have worked well).
Once you find an amp that mates to your speakers, you need a better source. I was using the Sony SCD-777ES in my system as I only use digital as a source and I always wanted to try the better CDPs or modify the Sony. Well I have a Wadia 861, EMC-1, Audiomeca Mephisto II.X and a highly modified Shanling CD-T100 (custom mod past what the level one + mod offers). These while different sounding, made the biggest overall change in my system.
I added the Talon Raven-Cs in my system and I was getting a harshness that everyone (Talon dealers) were telling me was the mismatch between the Pass Labs gear and the Ravens). Well than may be so by my friend to me that the biggest change would come from adding a better source first so that is how I got the different CDPs to try out. Well with the better CDPs especially the more analog sounding ones, the brightness/harshness is GONE! Now I can find an amp that will add to the sound (I know not what I said above about map matching first but the Pass is good in the system and now I can hear what lacks in the system better than before so a different amp may help to add or subtract from the sound I am now getting). When I had the B&Ws, different amps and preamps did not make that big a difference. I should have changed the source but I was not hearing the harshness in my system with those speakers.
Last preamps. The preamp function is really a volume control which works to remove loudness and not increase loudness, so you need to find one that does not change the sound of your system at different volume levels.
Cables and room treatment are also in the mix somewhere as well as speaker positioning and isolation.
So I hope my experience has helped as I am now fortunate to be able to take many amps, CDPs, preamps and cables home to try without any hassle and really spend time to see what makes the biggest improvement. System synergy is the key to building a good sounding system no matter how much you have to spend on components.
Happy Listening.
