Where to go after Bel Canto Ref1000MKII

How much do you want to spend you seem happy with the sound of the KR amp. I am sure a used one will be much less. A big Austrian tube amp like an Ayon.

"I'm assuming these speakers can be taken to a whole different level--big assumption as I've not heard them better, but I've heard only my own pair."

What's the basis for that assumption?

There may be many reasons why your rig does not sound as good as others that are totally different. A lateral move cost wise to a different sounding system might prove to be as effective as a perceived upgrade.

ALways start with nailing the speakers first. Are they a good fit into your room? How are they similar or different from others you have heard that seem better? Are there better options out there for your application? How much of an investment is really needed?

Also just a caution that large B&Ws are not known to be tube friendly. If more tubelike sound is what you seek, then you might want to consider determining a budget and coming up with a good tube amp/speaker combo. Unless your room is very large, it might not end up costing as much as you expect.

You have a lot to change, the Bryston DAC is a good dac but not in the league of setting up a super system.

Moving to a better amplifier will help, it comes down to price vs performance. The NEMO's are incredible amplifiers for the big B&W they were designed to power them.

Also Chord's amplifiers are also amazing with the B&W.

I would also look at power conditioning, are you using any? Power Cables? Vibration Isolation, room tuning?

All of these items play a crucial role of making a system come alive.

I have heard the Nemo amps running large B&Ws (not sure exact model). No doubt that is a very good pairing that would be hard to beat if the B&W sound is what floats your boat.

Larger Mac SS amps seem to be another popular pairing that might work well given the Mac pre-amp already in place.

Dhartwick -

Whether exchanging your Bel Canto poweramps will get you to your desired goals - i.e., more "speed and overall realism" - is debatable. Then again, maybe a pair of NuForce Ref. 18(soon to be 20) mono's could very well do better here. NuForce's Ref. amps in general are known for their great abilities (among other virtues) into speed and timing, which I can attest to owning one of their poweramps myself.

Moreover, I'd go the "less is more" route and get rid of your preamp, and invest in a new and combined DAC/preamp - maybe even the Bel Canto DAC3.5, which I've heard houses a splendid build-in digital volume control. I'm sure there are other very worthwhile DAC/preamps alternatives as well - that would also better your Bryston as a stand-alone DAC - as long as it gets the separate hardware preamp out of the way. To my ears separate preamps in general robs the sound of see-through(transparence), texture, and dynamics - where a good "substitute" DAC/preamp solution is found instead.

Why power filtration? Maybe I should ask which kind of power filtration you use? In general I find power filtration to flatten out the sound and rob dynamics, just my oppinion. A good star-grounding and dedicated outlets/power group should bring you a long way.

Cables: I'd avoid heavily shielded cables - be they IC's, speaker- or powercables. Heavily sheilded cables in my ears dulls the sound as if putting up a filter between me and the music. Also, I have an affinity for solid-core wires and finds it actually makes sense to speak of this aspect in a general fashion, in whichever combination they're used; an overall cleaner, tighter, and more physical sound.

Sorry if I'm coming off sounding "this way and none other" - that's not my intention.