Advise please for best system upgrade under $2,000

Noble100, Address your room, you'll be much farther ahead in the game. Ever heard the saying "if ain't broke don't fix" well this is the road your going down IMO. Is your equipment broken? no it's not so why blow $2000. You can treat your room within that budget and you'll have a room that can rival many. Look at the room being the broken part, take a crappy system and put it in a crappy room, you get crappy sound, now take a good system and put it into a crappy room and what do you have? more crap and more broke!! Most rooms if not all need some type of room treatments and your room is no different, some need more and some less. A good place to start is with the Rives web site as there is gobs of info to take you as far as you want to go. They have many links to suppliers of treatments that will further your education. One thing I've learned with high end audio is if you spend ten times more for a component you don't get ten times better sound!!!
Just my 2 pennies worth and Happy Holidays to all.

I'll start by improving the room and cables and then go from there. Although I'm curious to see how tubes might help and it is fun to experiment. But I agree we need to recognize that more $$$ doesn't equal better music or sound. Thanks all.

i dont know about the room treatment.....yet....would save as a last resort "if needed". btw, i use asc tube traps but only where needed.

would get suggest the highest resolution possible...it all starts at the source,pre,amp, speakers...high quality cable ties the whole thing together..if you havent tried high quality cables, try auditoning some from fatwyre (including power cables)or audience ( they have a great audition policy-i think you will be surprised by the difference of good power cables)

generally speaking...balance is a good thing to shoot for..the system is only good as the weakest link..adding a equalization to low res cables, pre, and source doesnt make that much sense(adding a band-aid)

you have extremely good speakers and a very good amp..i do agree that adding more money sometimes doesnt make sense- there is a point of diminishing returns. however there are certain products that offer superior / musical performance for a very reasonable price..

until you have a chance to try a great tube pre and source with good cables that can communicate the emotion unscathed... then.....

a good audio buddy of mine pooh-poohed the idea of pricey cables ( xlo signature 2, cardas neutral, and power cords)until he heard them in "his system"...it didnt sound the same..there was a increase in bass, dynamics, realism, and lsitenability. the difference of the power cords in his system alone was staggering.. needless to say his next step is upgrading ic and power cords.

i am sorry to say, when it comes to pre-amps. good ones(new) start at $2500-$4000, hence it makes sense to buy a good used one. great ic's start at $650(new) and go for $300-$400 used..power cords same gig...new start at $450 and $240 used...

i am not advising to overspend or buy $$$ gear but buy very good musical gear at the price point that is affordable...

Put roller balls under your CDP. Lots of threads at audioasylum. You can make your own for under $100 and have some fun in the process.

Mikesinger, You say you should start at the source first, consider the room the first place to start. Treat the room as a component and the first one at that. I know it's difficult to imagine a room having so much impact on the music but it does and people that have approached the room as a component will tell you don't underestimate the room, very powerful thing!
Why keep handicaping your equipment, we give our amps dedicated lines, we give our source components some type of conditioning, we install all kind of cones, maple platforms, etc, etc, why not treat the room, it's the same thing but a bigger picture. I'm sure you have had your share of components through your system and some you like and some you don't, but can you honestly say that you gave that certain component a 100% fair chance to prove it's worth in your system? I know this can be debated for ever but you may want to consider giving the room a bit more priority.