Tubes

gguy767- Everyone says that I’ll get addicted and want better this and that but I think I’m a tad more of a music lover than an audiophile

. Good. So you want to know the very best bang for the buck, after moving things around to get the best speaker placement possible, is a tube of Total Contact.This stuff will transform your system in a way you can hardly even imagine. All the other stuff you’re talking about will make a difference. For sure. But you could spend thousands and not get to where one $300 tube of TC will get you. No set of tubes ever made at any price will get you anywhere even close. Probably no speaker or amp for that matter.

Search around for mahgister and his thread on his system. Its a very budget level system and he’s outside the US so no Total Contact but the point is the same: its way better and more cost effective to tweak what you have than to buy more expensive components.
Other top contenders, all of which are much more cost effective than tubes or components: BDR Cones, Synergistic Research Orange Fuse, ECT, HFT and PHT.

I didn’t see anything in your comments about speaker cables, interconnects, or power cords. If you are still using the cheap freebie patch cords and rubber power cords they ship with components then those should be the first to go. After that, don’t even think about tubes or components until you’ve done the list above. Start with TC, you will see what I mean.

That's just my opinion, of course audiophiles love music, no doubt about that but they also love the tech, the speakers, the look, the hunt for quality audio... which do they love more though? The actual music that made the hair stand on the back of their neck the first time they heard it or the beauty of an amazing sounding system? I didn't say you can't be or have both, I'm just one notch over on the spectrum to music lover is all, I'm not going to buy the Bugatti. When that hair stood up on my neck it was on an inferior quality audio system to what we can get these days and I love that over just a quality sounding stereo any day. I think an audiophile and a music lover are like separate hobbiests in a way. An audiophile is on a constant mission for sound quality improvement and a music lover is on a constant mission for that new song that's going to move them. I also think the two meld together nicely. One is on a mission to hear that music with high fidelity and is constantly upgrading and tweaking to get that sought after high fidelity, the other can hear it on a crappy chinese 1997 boombox and never think twice about it and love it just the same. I like to drive too but I don't need a expensive sports car to have just as much fun. Some people want a Bugatti I'm good with a Corvette big difference there the Bugatti would smoke a Corvette and make it look stupid but I wouldn't be any less happy with my Corvette that's how i feel about this hobby. It doesn't mean i have any less respect for anyone! I myself am 40% audiophile and 60% music lover. I want my music to sound good but not Bugatti price good corvettes price good is good enough for me and I say this not being a rich man, but even if I was.. you wouldn't find me so into the hobby of High Fidelity that I drop 25,000 on a set of speakers it's just how i feel about it. I think what i have now sounds better than anything I've ever heard in my life tbh. That said it doesn't mean I won't change my opinion at some point but currently this is me. I mean people don't call them selves audiophiles for a reason and generally people aren't willing to spend 100$ for a radio let alone 25,000 on just a set of speakers. Most people don't even have the 100$ and probably don't even think twice about audio quality. 

@roberjerman Shindo use NOS or old production tubes in their new amplifiers. 

The fact that current production equipment almost always comes with current production tubes has nothing to do with the quality of the tubes! Manufacturers use current production tubes because they are cheaper and available in large quantities. 

Change all tubes ASAP will sound much better.