Confused: Should I Upgrade Cables or Amp first?

marktomaras;
You are evidently much more comfortable with these newer technologies than I am. I have no idea what a "node" is! 

Stuart,

So in order to take advantage of one of the music streaming services, and there are several of them, you need a way to get the music streaming to your integrated amplifier.  One way is to have a computer hooked up to a DAC, and connect that to the amplifier.  The newer way, which is less complicated than using an entire computer, is to use what they are calling a streamer.  A streamer is a small component that connects to your internet at home and to the amplifier or preamplifier. It then connects to your online account with the source of the streaming music (I use Tidal HiFi, but there are others).

The "Node 2" is a model name of one of these streamers from a company called Bluesound.  There are others on the market as well, from fancy companies like Naim for thousands of dollars, and newer companies such as Auralic, which has entry level all the way on up.

I like the idea of the Bluesound Node 2.  It seems easy to use.  You can connect it to an external DAC or use the onboard DAC.  It is reasonably priced.  You control the thing with a smart phone or a tablet.

So for $500 you get a very interesting product that connects you to 4 million full cd quality albums on Tidal HiFi.  It may be a little leap of faith if you are not up to speed on the latest digital stuff, but talk about making a change in your system!  

Too often we are always talking about squeezing an extra droplet of performance from our already good sounding systems, and often for big money.  A move like this gets you nearly all of the music you could ever want.  Imagine going to a huge CD store and think, ah yes, I already have 90% of these CDs!

Precisely since you are not fully into all of the contemporary digital developments, I highly recommend this to you.  Purchase a Bluesound Node 2 from a place like Best Buy or Crutchfiled, a store that will give you a long trial period with a full refund possible.  Spend that $500, and let the other $2K sit idle for the moment.  Get a trial account for Tidal HiFi (the $15 per month one that gives you fully uncompressed CD quality music).  Plug the Node 2 into your amplifier, and connect it to your home internet.  Link it to your Tidal HiFI account, grab your smart phone and sit in the sweet spot.  Prepare to be amazed.

If you don't like it, send it back, and call it a free learning experience.  If you do like it, sit back and play music, and then decide the next move.  That next move could be a subwoofer, or whatever.  You may like this so much that you rip your CD collection, and play them through the Node as well, selling the CD player and getting a great DAC.  Who knows?

I am super curious to see what you do.  Even if you upgrade the amp, I think this is a great experiment to try...

marktomaras;
 Thanks for the explanation. I'm expecting the Parasound Halo to arrive from Audioadvisor on Thursday, so my plan is to first evaluate its effect on the system, then take it from there. I will bear in mind the possibilities you've kindly detailed. 

Wrap-up: I ended up sending back the Parasound Halo. I wasn't willing to keep it in my system for 150 hours to see if I would like it in the long run. Frankly, my current Jolida tube integrated, tube CDP and Silverline speakers all sounded very good to my ears right out of the box and only improved with break-in, whereas the Halo sounded very thin and generally unappealing to me. It's garnered many enthusiastic pro reviews, so I'm not going to pass judgement on it-- it simply wasn't a good match for my expectations and patience level. Another factor was that I borrowed  Margules hybrid integrated that was nearly new, and liked it  so much better than the Halo. The combination of muscularity and smoothness wrought by more power and a tubed pre-amp section was truly seductive. More power is good ! The Margules demonstrated convincingly just how much an amp can improve my system's sound. My wife prefers the pure tube sound, though, so I've decided to demo a Jolida 3502S-- a hot-rodded version of my current integrated that has the flexibility to use EL34's, 6550's, KT88's, KT120's, or KT150's.  The Jolida with KT150's would boost the power from 50 to 85 watts and based on my familiarity with the Jolida sound, it should satisfy both of us. So, in the end, I've answered my original question; I'm going with an amp. Thanks for everyone's input!

I drive a pair of Silverline Preludes (supposedly 91db efficiency but measured more like 89 in a Stereophile review…Silverline exaggerates their specs a bit it would seem, including the silly 35 hz bass claims for my speakers…35hz with the Preludes is just silly…I've measured it ) with a "factory upgraded"  Jolida 502p that puts out maybe 65 watts or so per side, and it kicks butt. My speaker cable runs are AQ 10' Type 8 that sound amazing, and likely would work at 20 feet if they had to. Great cable. Based on my experience with Jolida I bet the 3502 that appears to replace the 502 in the Jolida lineup is a GREAT amp. The only thing wrong with Jolida is they're relatively inexpensive so amp snobs diss 'em. Meh…(my 502 has been abused daily for years and works like new…I've compared it to much more expensive stuff and it shames some well regarded amps that cost 5 times as much). Over the last few years I've scored two excellent REL subs on Ebay at different times for around 200 bucks each…from the same era…a Q150e and a Q108e II, and they take up very little space but provide a much more realistic full range sound that I can't imagine not hearing now that I have these things (well, I can imagine it as I sometimes turn 'em off just to see what's what…and turn them back on immediately!).  REL 108s show up online fairly often and if you don't have room for one of those you simply have too much furniture.