Should I upgrade my preamp?

I would 1st want to know from your words, specifically, what sq are you missing from your system ?, and / or what sq are you trying to add to your system ?, and / or, you just got the upgrade bug ? There are many things we can do to enhance our systems. Room acoustics, speaker listener positions, cables, isolators, etc. Have you optimized any of this, or are you restricted in any way to optimize any of this ( not having a dedicated room, as an example ) ? The Denon piece, btw, is either the DCD1500, or the DVD 1500. My best, and of course as tomic says, have fun. MrD.

+1 @mrdecibel Totally depends on what improvements and sound characteristics you’re looking for. I’ll just caution that with your amp and speakers you should be careful to not venture too far into greater neutrality/treble detail or things might get too bright. The newer ARC preamps will likely skew this way relative to what you have now, which is why it’s so important to share what specifically you’re looking for sonically. Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck.

I am not of the camp that you must understand what is missing from your current system. When you perform a significant upgrade with high quality components, you find out what you were missing. When you are talking about components like ARC you can be certain of great results. The upgrade to an LS28 would be a great upgrade. I completely agree that the preamp is the heart snd soul and this is a great preamp. In addition it sets you up to hear marked improvements when you choose to upgrade any other of your components.

I have owned many versions of ARC preamps and phono stages. They are wonderful. They only stumbled a bit on the REF 1 and REF 2 preamps.

I have owned many ARC preamps including the LS2B, but not the MK2. I also feel the preamp is the heart of the system. Much more important than the amp. I currently own a Ref 5se which I dearly love. My Ref 5se was a demo. Buying a demo or even used can save quite a bit of money. And it is already broken in. The LS28 is a wonderful preamp and would be a significant upgrade. Get the se version if at all possible. Speakers would also make a big difference. 

My advice is to make a long term plan and work toward it. Upgrade one piece at a time. Maybe a preamp first and then speakers. You may not realize the full potential  of the new preamp at first. But as you upgrade other pieces you will. And you will not feel the need to upgrade it for a long time.

tomic601 Yes, I’ve been checking with Ann Arbor for several months now.

mrdecibel you are correct, it is DCD-1500, typo on my part. If I remember correctly, I bought this player in 1986. I’ve tried other CD players over the years and they either lacked in bass or the highs were to bright or tinny sounding and in some cases less detail. My system’s sound stage is not mid-hall depth, it’s more like the 10^th row and very engaging. The preamp is 30 years old and to my ears it has lost some of its magic. So, is time to replace or recap or maybe look for a new CD/SACD player?

I forgot to mention speaker cables and interconnects are all Transparent Music Link Supers.

We moved a few years ago and my listening area is not good, my sound stage is very compressed now. 

Soix I grew up listening to tubes. When I was little, I remember watching my father build his first stereo preamp from a Dynaco kit. So, with ARC’s newer equipment moving away from the house sound that embraced tubes to something more neutral, with just a hint of tube sound. I hear your warning and it is my primary concern.