Recommendations for 5k upgrade

Thanks all for the great suggestions and nice comments!

Source: Since I am focusing on playing FLAC files (still have to restrain myself from getting a TT -not talking about an Audi- as I know the total cost will soon exceed the cost of a new sub/compact car), and rather using the SACD/CD player occasionally (therefore I don't see the need for urgent upgrade; except maybe to a bit higher level like the Sony 777ES series).
I will look certainly into a better DAC and digital cable.

ICs: just bought the first pair of Valhalla ICs so will soon experience the difference.

SC: thanks for the confirmation of the Tyr2 that I was trending to. Glad to hear that this is not my weakest link.

PCs (your advise needed): In a forum they mentioned that Lars, the NordOst rep, demoed a system with (just) one Valhalla PC between the wall and conditioner, the rest of the system just had their entry level PCs. Lars stated that this setup is better than, say, all Brahmas throughout the system. The audience (no pun intended) concurred after the demo. If one follows this strategy, I would upgrade the AdeptResponse PC to AU24e first (it is what I put in my plan).
I would appreciate if anyone can confirm this strategy/philosophy in getting the very best PC upstream and leave the rest on entry level (or maybe stock cords?) to achieve the best price/performance. (I really wish not to need to end up with Valhalla -or equally priced, even used- PCs- for every device in the system.

Also, I will keep looking for the review on game changers in this area. Just looked very briefly at Cabledyne's website, the PCs looks decent.

Pconditioning: Even though I had great experience passing from a NordOst Thor to AdeptResponse 12, I will not likely upgrade to the newer T series before the source and speaker and power cables are upgraded. Rationale: if I shell out another 10k (or 5k for the upgrade) from the 12 to 12T, I might as well contemplate replacing the big Dunlavy SC-IVs to something at least good sounding but more appealing to look at.

As mentioned before, I will upgrade to at least one dedicated 20A line and ask the electrician to put more than enough earth poles to ensure I have the best ground possible, which I believe will eliminate potential ground issues.

Onhwy61, sorry if my quest misled you. In general, I wanted to take this already great sounding system to the next level -which is what I put on the last lines- w/o breaking the piggy bank. E.g. when I had, IMO, a good system a while back with the CJ PV12, MF2500 and Snell B Minors, I thought this ensemble is darn good...till I upgraded the components.

Placing speakers is a very well discussed and known fact (believe me I did that first) and acoustic treatment, or my specific limitation, has been mentioned already in my OP.

To prospective sellers: please refrain from contacting me directly to sell me (your) goods, as some of you have tried, it will only raise my alertness and consequently my discontent. I am considering those messages to Audiogon, maybe they will land in a new "Hall of Shame".

To all the others, please keep your suggestions coming, thanks!

Thanks for the continued comments and suggestions which I have taken to heart.

Here is my action plan:

IC: (after rereading the many comments on the Gon) upgraded to Valhallas and got what I expected: much more detail, better imaging...a sizeable step up from the Valkyrja so certainly no buyers remorse here. I have come to respect NordOst even more but will keep an eye on more affordable solutions for speaker and power cables.

SC: n/c, may try the Tyr2 or Audience AU24e.

PC: replaced the NordOst Vishnus with Audience PowerChords: a blacker background, more solid imaging, will order the AU24e PC for the prime link as planned.

Source:
Cary 306 or 303 SACD/CD player targeted, will also audition an used Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 as transport.
(your comments needed here to help me decide between those three).
Actually I only need a better transport as my main source is the HTPC.

DAC: my rationale is that technology changes so fast in this area that does not warrant the purchase of a 3k+ DAC (I learnt my lessons seeing the depreciation of the high end receivers I bought a decade ago and selling then at 10cents on the dollar).
My current EE MiniMax DAC Plus with the DEXA opamps sounded more realistic and a bit smoother than the Wyred4Sound DAC2 and PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC MkI that I A/B'ed. I will audition the PWD MkII, just to have a piece of mind. Douglas: a big thank you! I read your write up on Dagogo a long time ago which prompted me to seek out this DAC. Question to you: would you recommend upgrading the output caps?

Thanks for reminding me of digital room correction, I plan to test the DEQX someday as I need to stick with the very limited acoustic treatment options (WAF!).

Thanks guys to help me spend 5k+ that quickly :-)

Douglas, mea culpa, I have the EE MiniMax Plus all along, I had both the standard version and the newer version, preferring the improved sound of the latter.

I have now upgraded all existing PC to Audience powerChords and am pretty happy about that upgrade. Also added a HiFi Tuning fuse for the preamp, considering to do the same for the tube power amps.

Will decide on the CD or transport upgrade this week. The Cary 306 could maybe serve as main DAC so the whole setup looks simpler.

Douglas, I am already using the NordOst Silver Shadow from the EE Plus as indicated in my OP. Which brand/model would you suggest as an upgrade (Valhalla or the Transparent Reference are, budget wise, not an option for now).

As I am pleased with the Audience power conditioner and PCs, I was wondering if the digital AU24e would be a good improvement over the Silver Shadow.

Update:

Following your comments and great advice I have upgraded

1.) Transport: to a Cary 306, more detailed, very sweet sound, I am having problem with the upsampler (which may be defective, have emailed Cary). A big step up indeed, thanks to all but esp. Zd542 for speaking very clear words.

2.) All power cables to Audience power Chord, conforming to the loom theory and based on my great experience with the Audience AdeptResponse 12T (this is just my experience as I don't want to again to start a war of words on cabling): blacker background, on the CDP and preamp I feel that the NordOst is faster and sounded better on violins in some recordings, need more time to hear the differences.

3.) all ICs from NordOst Valkyrja to Valhalla (my biggest expenditure) and not what I hoped for which is a minor upgrade so that I can sell those expensive cables: it was the biggest improvement of all: much more details, so fast, so dynamic! Very tempted to test a Valhalla power cord but all budget is gone.

4.) Fuses (thanks Vhiner for mentioning about it here) to HiFi Tuning and in the near future AMR gold so none of the devices will have standard fuse(s)anymore: this is the best bang for the buck, very recommended for all to experiment! (Again, I do not intend to start a discussion on this topic, it is just my personal experience that I wish to share).

5.) Isolation from Stillpoints and Black Diamond Racing under the source components to Symposium Jr Rollerblocks with Tungsten balls: worthwhile improvement, more solid sound staging.

Up next:
- now very much needed upgrade of the digital cable so suggestions are more than welcome here.

- will do some tube rolling and some tube proponents suggest, it is about getting a variant on the sound without buying another component and as Douglas noted, rolling opamps do the same.

As you may have noticed, I have stalled, for now, the DAC upgrade mostly due to budget constraints but more so because it has held very well against others in the past. One, less likely, alternative route is buy the new PS Audio PWD MKII and downgrade the ICs from Valhalla back to Valkyrja to stay in the extended budget but I am afraid that the overall result would be worse than the current setup.

Vhiner,
I will, as mentioned, I am looking for used digitial cables up to $800. In fact, I have a Valhalla digital loaner, see which one comes close to it. Which other digital cable did you compare before settling on the Zitron Python? In my HT I have Shunyata power cords but am not, certainly after the recent splurge, contemplating about completing the all cables Shunyata loom there.

Back to the main 2 channel setup, just replaced the Heimdall speaker cable with Audience AU24e: less grain, better presentation, more harmonic depth. Will wait till I have settled on the power cords before deciding which SC is to stay, too many variables now but the system is trending towards Audience, taking ground from NordOst. It all started after the arrival of the AudienceResponse.