Best next step to upgrade sound?

Blindjim, Cerrot, thanks for the thoughtful responses, they are appreciated. What I am going to do first is spend some time listening to my modest system now and ask myself what it needs. The next step will most likely be an external amp or a dedicated cd player. But I'm also rethinking the whole "cd thing" as well. Why not just use the MacBook and an external DAC?

In terms of an amp, what I'd really be excited about is tube power. I enjoy the warm sound of tube amplifiers with my electric guitars, and I'm asking myself if that isn't the sound I'm looking for. I've got some decisions to make.

Bite the bullet man... you're a closet tube head! Step into the light!

Get yourself a real nice disc player... dig your rig... and investigate that Prima Luna int. It's not too pricey, and offers both SET and ultra linear output. A couple folks here have personally recommended it to me before I bought the Dodd amps and I was thinking strongly about an int myself.

there's tons of ways to go with music... the notebook + DAC is only one of 'em. With the right selection there, you might even forego the new CDP. I'm in the midst of trying to improve the sonics of my USB out from PC to DAC... and things are getting there... slowly.

What seems to be most integral there is the ripping.. The better, the better. The DAC too plays a tremendous part as well. But going back to basics... if the signal ain't super to begin with... well, there's no making up for it later on...

Take your time, and have fun... there's no dead line... just 'The Dead'

It's been almost a year, so I'll update this thread for those who might be interested. I'll pose another question as well.

I ditched the HT Receiver and got myself a legit integrated (for me, multi-channel is overrated since don't watch a lot of films). I have also added a decent CDP, quality interconnects, speaker cable, and some power line stuff (conditioner, power cords). And wow, did the sound quality improve.

In fact, the only thing that is the same are my Infinity Beta 40 speakers. And I have to be honest, they don't sound that bad. I listened to a couple budget floorstanders recently - the Monitor Audio RS6 and the PSB Imagine T (I mentioned this in another thread). Neither caused me to want to pull out my wallet. I didn't care for the MA's treble, and while the Imagine T sounded better than my speakers, they were not better ENOUGH (and they were being driven by Bel Canto REF 500 monoblocks). So what I have concluded is this: It will behoove me to take my time with speaker selection, and it may end up that I'm going to spend quite a bit more than I thought I would.

So in the meantime, I am considering adding an external power amp to my current setup. My question: How important is it to match an external amp to my integrated if I'm not bi-amping? I can guess that a Rega Exon for example, would sound good with my Rega Mira. But what about something class D like Channel Island D100, or D200, or one of the PS Audio digital amps? I would plan on running a pre-out from my integrated. BTW, I'm asking about class D amps primarily because this is a living room system and space and appearance are considerations.

At this time I am using two PS Audio Trio A-100 class D amps to bi-amp my Kestrel Hot Rod speakers. So far so good. When I first hooked them up I was a bit concerned as they are so small and quiet I wasn't sure how they would sound. I'm thinking of a negative placebo effect. Sort of a "they are so small, how can they sound good?" type reaction. After about 50 hours of listening they sound very good, especially for the price (used).
Small, quiet, and efficient enough to leave on all the time. They might be worth a try.

Bradio7 have you listened to Snell D7 or Snell K7?
I think the K7 is about a grand, not sure about D7. I was very impressed, albeit in dealers showroom. Sounded much, much better than KEF's.