Upgrade Interconnects/Cables or…?

Gentlemen,

I let go of my reservations about moving my speakers out into the room. The difference from prior trials, is that I pulled them out farther than ever before. I then toed them in as well, and I'm still experimenting with this. Right now the drivers are just outside of pointing at me directly. Audphile1, soix, and hifiman5, you were right and I was stubborn. This made a huge difference. I put on Stan Getz at the Cafe Au Go Go and Astrud's voice resonated into the room. The system gained energy along with the bass, also sounding truly authentic and equally relaxed. I was almost present in the room, so I'll keep tweaking the placement until I can order a drink from the cocktail waitress! - LOL...Thanks

The downside, is it will be a battle with the wife when she sees what I've done, so I'll probably have to figure out a way to more easily move my speakers back and forth.

So, now what? It seems I'm somehow stuck in the same place I was before...Upgrade the cables or the line stage? What a hobby...Ha..Ha..Ha

Kenny

Good to hear you tried and are hearing the difference. More resolving cables will help a bit with soundstage but I’m not familiar with your amps and preamp. And that’s where you will most likely hit the nail on the head. You gotta start somewhere. 
You’re using a solid state preamp with tubed amps correct? May be try a tube linestage? Different amps may be? 
 

Glad to hear, and goodonya for giving it another shot!  A lot of people use these Herbies Gliders to facilitate moving their speakers, and many also report improvements in sound as well.  They’re not very expensive, and you can return them if they don’t work out so well worth a look I’d think.

https://herbiesaudiolab.com/products/threaded-stud-glider

Thanks soix, I used those Herbie's gliders on a rack that I built with my daughter for her system. My speakers sit upon custom Silent Running Audio platforms for isolation with completely flat bottoms. I'll talk to my dealer Jeff to find out if it would be okay to drill into the SRAs to do the same thing. That would make it much easier to move the speakers around. I like that!

audphile1 - My Boulder L3AE line stage was built in 1990, and was one of the first Boulder Amplifiers products. It received excellent reviews at the time and still does if you look around. I picked it up as a slightly used demo from a Listen Up store back then for $1,250, but the retail was $3,500. The salesman was a friend of mine. Mark Levinson was in their heyday back then, so I had the Boulder inserted into their top system being demonstrated. I could not hear any difference betwen the Boulder and Levinson preamp. This revealed to me that the Boulder did not impart its own sound on the system. About 5 years ago, I took it to Boulder Amplifiers that was now a much different company manufacturing products so expensive that I could never afford. The guys their hovered over my L3AE and jumped on the opportunity to replace the caps. I've been using this line stage ever since.

My TW-Acustic 300B amps are made one at a time by Thomas in Germany who owns the company. I've met him a couple of times at the RMAF shows in Denver. Jeff at High Water Sound is his U.S. distributor who presents his variety of products at those shows and others (i.e., Raven Tables). The Horning Hybrid speakers that I now own, I purchased at the show after it ended. They were demoed with the 300Bs that I would get later. My 300Bs were the 3rd pair made by Thomas. Today, he's still making the model, but the cosmetics have dramatically changed to satisfy the high end market as they sell for $30K. As for my 300Bs, I will find out from Jeff how they were improved beyond their look. I hope so, as the original retail on mine were $18K and I did not pay that. I can say that they do not lack in transparency, and they are the finest piece of equipment currently in my system.

Commentaries:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/high-water-sounds-sounds-joy-tw-acustic-raven-and-cessaro-horn-acoustics

https://www.stereophile.com/content/high-water-sound-tw-acustic-cessaro-horn-acoustics-codia-acoustic-design-stein-music

Maybe, do the cables?

Kenny

Maybe, do the cables?

Yeah, when I tried the Cross in my system they sounded veiled so I’d think moving to something more transparent would better reveal a sense of openness and space that you’re looking for without necessarily having to give up anything in tonality or musicality. Can’t comment on your other cables as I’m not familiar with them, but I’d think even just replacing the Cross alone could be very beneficial and maybe all you need. What’s your budget, and would you look for new or used?