Integrated upgrade recomendations

@mikeybklyn,

Maybe a Schiit Ragnarok integrated amp. Cost $1700.

https://www.schiit.com/products/ragnarok-1

I never mentioned an amp. I helped my sister set up an entry level system. Decided on a Belles Aria due to the reviews and comments by well respected bloggers and by luck the Belles Aria is excellent at it's price point(2500?) With this amp you can upgrade to another efficient speaker and keep your amp. 

Parasound Hint is tough to beat loads of features, the prior model 5 was a Stereophile class A component.

+1 @dayglow 

Upgrade your amp then source and have basic room treatment. 

I would modify this advice just a little bit. Often, the room is a big and overlooked factor affecting the sound. With that in mind, I would do things this way:

(a) Test your room and see if there are large bass and reflection problems. Play with positioning to mitigate problems. There are a lot of resources out there about this and basic room triage can be done quickly. You will then have a better baseline to judge every other component.

(b) Consider getting a better DAC than the Sprout. An R2R topology might be just the ticket.

(c) If (a) and (b) don't help improve things a lot, then a better amp might be the ingredient that tips things significantly forward.

Hey everyone just an update. I went to a local store here in NYC and listened to a few amps including the Rogue Sphinx v3. I went with the Sphinx it sounded awesome!