Advise please for best system upgrade under $2,000

Add a DAC to your transport...recommendations can range from a Scott Dixon Tubed DAC unit or other similar. It will be practically a new CD sound with the DAC aspect difference. Cost: $500.

Add a tubed preamp. The best I would be able to recommend is a First Sound Presence Deluxe. The earlier MKI models go for around 1-1.5K. They take just a pair of 6922 tubes or equivalent, much easier to outfit than the mentioned BAT 30K and they also take a pair of O2A tubes which last for up to 10 year. The sound is astonishing even in comparison to the other heavy weights. It can compare easily to ny AR, LAMM, CAT and of course BAT. BTW, it has a separate heavy weight power supply.

If you want and can stretch your budget, you can always buy a MKI and have it become the latest MKII or buy an used MKII for about 2.5K.

The transport replacement issue, is a non issue, the Sony you have have been known as an excellent transport ever since and are now becoming more popular than ever.

I had used a Panasonic DVD player as a transport originally with a Bel Canto DAC-1.0 and now switched to a dedicated 47 Labs Shigaraki Transport and a Bel Canto DAC 2.0....to be honest, cannot tell too much of a difference. The DAC I believe will be the component that will be the best investment in terms of Digital front end.

I have found the preamp to be the most important part of a system and think that getting a nice tubed preamp would benefit you the most. A c-j Premiere 14, BAT VK5i or VK30, or something else would give you more warmth but also probably better detail. And since every source would be run into it, every source would benefit. Thank about it.

Noble,

So, it appears that you have only CD playback and DVD playback (in 2-channel stereo) available to you now. It also appears that having a pre/pro in your system is not necessarry as you are only playing 2-channel audio. If this is the case, I have a unique solution for your upgrade path.

Buy a Quad 99-CDP CD player! It has an excellent built-in volume control AND it allows you to connect other digital sources and use its internal 24/192K DAC to improve the sound quality of you other digital components. You could sell your pre/pro to suppliment the cost of the new CD player and still have all of the funtionality you need.

So, here would be the proposed system:

Sony DVP-S7000 (for DVD playback) connected via a digital cable into the Quad 99-CDP

Quad 99 CDP (for CD playback, remote volume control and 24/192K DAC), analog outputs of Quad connected to your power amp.

Aragon Amp

Speakers

I'm currently using a setup like this with the Quad 99 CDP acting as cd player, pre-amp and DAC for DVD playback. It is incredibly simple, incredibly compact and it sounds excellent!

The Quad 99 CDP is an excellent CD player and has replace a couple of more expensive units in my setup. It's analog volume control is excellent and bested my buddy's $4000 tube pre-amp (in transparency and articulation). The Quad 99 CDP is only $1495 new and I bought mine used for under $850. Since then, The Absloute Sound has reviewed it and given it a glowing recomendation.

Check it out. It could be a simple, cost effective solution to your upgrade quest.

Enjoy,

TIC

the firstsound presence pre is great gear..also Jond is spot on with his recomendations...

the owner of first sound - emanualle is a first rate gentleman and will help out even with used gear, and is always available via phone

however the first sound doesnt have a remote.....

i would love to try a first sound pre but i need a remote (once you go remote there is no going back)

the bat vk-30 with remote is the best thing going for the $1.5k - $2k price range imo...(depends on options - sixpac,phono,remote etc...)

you could also try a muse 8 that will play dvd and cd's ( they go for $1000).....you did get some great suggestion on adding a outboard dac..the muse 296 is also a great dac.

there are alot of options out available...would suggest buying a tube pre that fits your needs (remote, tubes, service, sound). there are some great suggestions wether bat,cj,first sound,ARC (ls-15,ls-16)... if you dont like it, you "should" be able to sell the unit and at least break even if you buy at a fair price...

digital frontends are a different story...plan on a little more depreciation...the rapid rate of advancement hs moved so fast the last 2 years- it has really made buying difficult...not to mention there are relaiblilty issues with the new high res formats ( it might make sense to buy a outboad da, there is less to go wrong)...

the real issue is finding a "musical" digital front end end for less than $1k....it is really, really hard..

the marantz is so very musical and gets alot right but i would be tempted to try a benchmark da converter with a good transport...

good luck and have fun

The above is what's so great about Audiogon users. I just got a lot of excellent advice in 1 day from people that know their stuff and are willing to take the time to respond.
So, to summarize, it seems to me I should:

A. Improve my room acoustics with traps and diffusors and other changes. This would benefit the music now as well as down the road with any future upgrades.
B. Improve my interconnects and speaker wire. I know this is important but it seems hard to compare different brands and figure out what works best (a lot of trial and error).
C. Improve my Source either with a new CD/DVP (Marantz, Quad, Wadia, etc)or a separate DAC along with my current DVP as a transport.
D. Upgrade to a tube preamp. I currently incorporate HT with the pre/pro but 2 channel is much more important to me. So I could just use the B&K as a processor hooked up to a very nice tube preamp (BAT, CJ,First Sound Presence, etc.)

All great advice. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and time.