I’d say your speakers are definitely the weak link, but if going the tube route, you can do a lot better than Jolida. A lightly used Cayin or Line Magnetic amp can be had for about the same $$$.
Normally I would put most of a budget toward speakers. You won’t want to skimp on an analog front end, however, you might consider rebalancing the budget some to get into a $5k pair of speakers if you plan to buy new. Speakers are probably the most polarizing and personal aspect of a system, so you’ll want to do plenty of research, but hopefully you’ll take advantage of some money back guarantees from MD and the like. SF speakers are attractive but I’ve found that it’s often the eye candy speakers that have the most mediocre performance. It is possible to polish a turd after all. Don’t dismiss a speaker on specs either. Some of the best speakers I’ve heard roll off the highs above 15KHz.
And forget the ADS controller. VPI told me one would reap greater benefit from putting that money into a cartridge or phono stage.
Normally I would put most of a budget toward speakers. You won’t want to skimp on an analog front end, however, you might consider rebalancing the budget some to get into a $5k pair of speakers if you plan to buy new. Speakers are probably the most polarizing and personal aspect of a system, so you’ll want to do plenty of research, but hopefully you’ll take advantage of some money back guarantees from MD and the like. SF speakers are attractive but I’ve found that it’s often the eye candy speakers that have the most mediocre performance. It is possible to polish a turd after all. Don’t dismiss a speaker on specs either. Some of the best speakers I’ve heard roll off the highs above 15KHz.
And forget the ADS controller. VPI told me one would reap greater benefit from putting that money into a cartridge or phono stage.