What should I upgrade next?

I would upgrade pre-am, and CD first. Then, you can tell if your current speakers would work for you. Or, as suggested, sell your pre-amp and amp(s) and get high quality Integrated Amp (Krell, Plinius, Perreaux...if you need high current amp )Speakers should be upgraded last!

Get rid of that Preamp in a hurry... If you are happy with the sonic performance of your speakers...as far as the musical characteristics... then definately get a good preamp. Try an audio research, or if you dont want to break the bank... a good preamp for the money is a b and k
pro 10 mc....about 300.00... spend the rest on a nice dual mono amp... aragon, 8002 or 8008 bb this will only compliment your system.. provided that you want to stay 2 channel. Another nice amp that i have had is the Musical fidelity a3cr... about 1k used.. the classe ca 150 is nice and even the macintosh mc 122.. all nice pieces.
Good luck

No component you buy is going to impact and define the sound of your system more than the speakers. While electronics are critical to getting the most out of your system, if your speakers aren't capable of resolving enough or don't produce music in a way that really moves you or connects you to the music, no level of electronics is going to make that happen. Get the speakers right and the rest will follow. I'd agree that the preamp should be next on your list. Best of luck.

Tim

This is a tough one. I believe if you do upgrade the speakers first, they will quickly reveal the shortcomings of your basically fine but still Mid-Fi preamp, amplifiers and CD source. Or you may pick the wrong speakers, for the same reason; basically that they sound good with your current electronics.

For $1500 you could get an excellent used preamp and power amp combination that would be a good base to upgrade the speakers later. You could always try to borrow some gear to see if you notice the improvement with your current speakers.

Since you mention tubes, you could pick up a something like a Conrad Johnson PV-10 preamp for around $600 and get a nice solid state amplifier and some good cables to link them together with the rest. Possible candidates for an amp would be a Conrad Johnson MF2100, or MF2300, or a McCormack DNA 0.5 or 1.0.

I disagree with Soix. I believe the amplifier is the key to any system good or bad. It's a shame that most amplifiers do much more to the signal than simply amplify it.

A great amp can make most any mediocre speaker sing wonderfully. But a great speaker will only sound mediocre if the amp is mediocre or an improper match for the speaker. Try it sometime.

With that said, the Odyssey Stratos is supposedly one of the better solid state amps at any price and can be had new for $995.

I have never heard this amp, but I know a few who own it. Based on what they've said and what I've read in reviews found at odysseyaudio.com, everybody had nothing but the very best to say about this amp.

I would highly recommend that you research this product. You could even purchase it with a 30 day satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. If you keep it, you get a 20 year warranty. It supposedly is powerful and fast. I ordered a pair of monoblock versions and then cancelled the order. Only because I found the only solid state amp that Peter Moncrief of International Audio Review rated higher than the Stratos. And bought it.

To give you an idea, IAR rated the Odyssey Stratos a class 1B but rated the SimAudio Moon W-5 class 1C. A step down. I've owned the Moon W-5 and it was a very nice amp and was everything IAR said it was. I now own what IAR rated in class 1A, the only SS amp in that class. IAR appears to be very accurate in it's description of this amp as well. Therefore, I doubt that IAR would accurately review the amps in classes 1A and 1C correct and then totally flub up on the review of the 2 amps in class 1B.

-IMO