Broke and still not happy

I have to reiterate here. Stereophile Test CD track 19. Put your ear right in front of the speaker and then slowly back away. It may not solve your particular problem, but it will give you an idea of good...or bad your speaker placement is.

Cables, power conditioners and other tweaks are important but I think people get a little obsessed with little stuff like that. I'm not an expert but I'd be willing to bet somewhere somehow it's an acoustics issue.

Get rid of the tube preamp and DAC. Use the the funds
to get a TacT RCS 2.2X. Run the transport directly into
the RCS. Put the sub in a corner of your room and let the TacT system measure and balance out the system. If you play in a band, you know that the sound person has to use EQ controls to adjust for room conditions. Time to bring
the same concept home.

I think the TACT is a pink noise generater if so,we"ve tried other brands in the band and I had one in my vehicle. Always went back to manually adjusting the EQ.I"m still thinking about the Maranzt M-7.

Play some jazz, if you think this sounds better, consider the speakers.

"I think the TACT is a pink noise generater."

Gellis1- the TacT is not a pink noise generator. It uses pulses at three different frequncies to measure in room frequency response and time delays between the speakers.

It uses this measurement to calculate an inverse correction curve for the system based on a target curve and subwoofer crossover points/slopes you select. All this is done in digital. You can program 9 difference correction curves to suit your musical tastes.

You can also manually adjust with it's digital 12-band parametric equalizer or a programable 3-band tone control to touch up problem recordings on the fly.