Whats my weak link?

+1 Winoguy17. I would start by eliminating the pre/pro. I never found one that could do music right, including Classe. Your amp has an input impedence of 75Kohm, so a nice tube preamp should fill the bill nicely. Even a solid state stereo preamp would be an upgrade though.

Ps, Chuck, Bro, I know now that I am flying blind. I thought that the sound that I didn't like was because of my speakers. You hear from some people that speakers make the biggest difference in sound; I didn't believe that so much before but now I'm certain of it. Dealers around me don't know nearly as much as you guys; they're just there to sell equipment, and I do have some "hi-end" dealers around me. Ahhhh, going crazy here. I know the sound I'm after, i just can't seem to get there.

In addition to what Almarg said, see if your buddy will let you try his power conditioner. Plug source gear and pre-amp into it, not power amp. I suspect some power conditioning might make an improvement. Need not be expensive (unless for a power amp). I use a very modest Monster power strip with my source gear and it was a nice step in the direction you seek when applied.

Lol Jmcgrogan, I know I move too fast alot of the time, but I don't know that I'll ever enjoy that song.

Thanks Mapman! I think I'm going to try some powercords first and I will try a power conditioner for everything except my amp also.