Interconnect recommendations

@signaforce you have a nice system. I looked at the Holo Spring KTE 3 when last DAC shopping, and while I am bringing an information water pistol to an opinion war with AI, I’m not sure the Spring is a huge lift from the Qutest with the hot-rodded Sbooster and some decent RCA cables.  The Holo May would be a noticeable improvement, so I would save your money for that or similar level DAC upgrade.  In the meantime, if the used Level 7.3 Anticables are still available, you can’t go wrong with the improvement for the Qutest for under $300, and I think those cables wouldn’t embarass themselves when you upgrade DACs as a bridge solution while you search for your final cable destination.  They would definitely offer an improvement over the Mogami’s you’re currently using.

kn

I am absolutely doing the DAC first. The question then becomes which is next: expensive interconnects or amp replacement with lesser or my current interconnects? Which would be the greater impact. My guess is DAC, then amp, but there are greater minds than me out there.

Personally, and this is dependent on budget constraints, after the DAC I’d do a trial of something like Fidelium or Veritas interconnects/cables to see if there’s a significant improvement.  Rationale is if they give you a significant improvement it’s probably a big % of what you’d get by spending a lot more on pricier cables, and if that allows you to then upgrade to something like the Coda that’d be your bigger overall impact than more expensive cables (there I agree with the AI recommendation).  Plus, if you don’t realize a significant improvement with those cables you can feel comfortable/confident staying with your current cables for now and move on to the amp.  That’s what I’d do if both expensive cables and a new amp are out of your current budget — FWIW.

@knownothing Thanks! Getting there… only had the Ref 3’s for about 2 weeks and just got them dialed in with my Rythmik F12 SE. If I buy Holo will go with the May or a DAC new or used in that price range. ChatGPT for some reason goes with the Spring citing limited differences & big price bump.
I do like my Qutest especially the size, but also the sound. I am doing everything I can to keep it (Sbooster isolation, LAN silencer, potential cables, etc) but IMHO (and others), it is my weakest link. 
I will look at your recommended cables. Thanks!

@soix Thanks for your recommendations!

As people have already said, get your components in order and then fine-tune it with your choice of cables.  I have found that Shunyata Sigma's work the best for my setup, both speaker cables, IC's and power cords.  I also have a Shunyata Everest, which was a huge surprise.  I figured that power conditioners were the least important thing, but after putting the Everest in, everything was better, soundstage width and especially depth.  The background was "blacker," something that people had said but I didn't really appreciate until the Everest went in.  YMMV, but worry about your cables after you get your components lined up.  Then you can worry about the various little tweaks to further improve the sound.