Advise please for best system upgrade under $2,000

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.

Option D and C will be the most effective for the amount you will want to spend for the upgrades, and they will also make the most noticable sound difference.

First Sound preamps have not remote, but they do offer a tape loop for your Video application needs. Its lack of remote is made up with really great volume control using holcro resistor controls. Remote volume controls add a veil to the sound that can be really difficult to compensate even with the convenience of a remote. Of course, you need to hear this sort of distortion in order to get a clear understanding of the sonic comprises between remote or high quality control.

Good luck in your task.

if you are looking for a tube pre with theatre out... would suggest the pse hl-1...really rare preamp. has remote(motor driven) and takes 2-6922/7308...

great sounding unit but really, really hard to find. they go for $1000-$1400.

pse is located a stones throw from audio research and maganapan... needless to say....maggies sound very, very good with pse gear(the studio V monoblocks are a great match) if you are unsure about pse- call magnapan and ask about pse.

Buy more music, you system is good enough.