I am looking to upgrade - looking for advice

@ghdprentice ​​​​@grislybutter are spot on. It’s a chain that works together, and the weakest link is what you’ll hear once once the clarity reaches a high level. Patience, synergy, research, and lots of listening when you make changes is your best bet IMO. It’s also good to optimize what you have by isolation and preventing vibration and resonances as much as is feasible, suitable cables and wires, etc.

I don’t buy enough expensive equipment to make any specific recommendations, but I trust the advice above. It’s always subjective and personal, but IMO this is a good time to at least consider taking a step towards tubes to get a taste, and set yourself up for possible future upgrades in that direction if you happen to become enamored like many do.

I like Bryston - currently for bass in my listening room (4BSST) and 5-channel for HT (9BSST). Bulletproof with service and warrantee to match, smooth elegant sound, not the last word in clarity, but then, not the last word in price either.

Owned B off and on since 2004. Works well with bass, Magnepan, and even ESL.

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there….

As @soix so often asks what sonically are you looking to improve ?…..

IF it plays loud enough and can handle the speaker load , amp is the LAST thing i recommend….. i know… big…beefy… heavy… easy sell …

IF you don’t plan on playing records beyond the currently hip fad, as @ghdprentice points out, don’t invest further. IF you do, then you need to focus on transducers - cartridges …. your table will support and reward possibly up to an Ortofon Bronze ( just an example )…. after that work on the other transducers ; speakers….

Finally…i consider a DAC a convertducer… zero or 5 volts into an AC musical waveform. The Node has a servicable DAC but there are many much more musical in the $400-$1K range….

...and remember to channel Joni in the midst of it all....

"....We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game..."

...or, on the darker side of the street...from a Velvet, underground...;)

"I'm feeling good, you know I'm gonna work it on out
I'm feeling good, I'm feeling so fine
Until tomorrow, but that's just some other time"....

Audio is just another addiction....coffee, sugar, keyboards....*L*