Seeking help finding the weak link(s) in my system and offering suggestions please.

That's it? That's everything? Nothing up your sleeve??

Okay so its pretty easy then. You've simply made the same mistake as almost everyone else, and put all your money in big-box components, none in tweaks. Spend your $1k on as much Synergistic Research as you can.

Two HFT Speaker Kits and one set of HFT for the walls will run you right at $1k. You mention being "moved" that is just what you'll get. Your system and speakers will disappear, far more than with any of the other things you've done, and they won't change your overall sound character except to make what you have deeper, wider, more extended and detailed yet with a slightly more relaxed melt into it vibe in spite of the increased presence and dynamics. Search around for the threads you'll see guys like me and Pritchard and some others, everyone who has this stuff raves about it.

Or if for some reason you don't want to try those, then ECT yield very similar results only instead of the walls these go directly on the components. I started with PHT (phono) and ECT, and found they work amazingly well on everything from tube amp to turntable to phono stage to even the laptop I watch movies on. One ECT improves video about equivalent to going from 180i to 4K. Yeah and the sound gets better at the same time too.

Yet right away guys like Pritchard were after me telling everyone to start with HFT. Honestly hard to say it really matters, they are all the same only different. And they are all additive. More and more only gets better and better. I've got two sets on the walls, set on each speaker, Wide Angle HFT, HFTX, three sets of ECT, set of PHT, Blue Quantum Fuse in everything, and plan on upgrading to Orange soon.

You want to be moved, just do it. Huge, huge value for the money.

Hello to all,

The demo system I listened to was top-of-the-line McIntosh and B&W speakers all wired up with AQ IC's and Speaker cables. In terms of what I heard that moved me, it was like the artists were right there in the same room with me, each in their respective places with absolutely no veil over the sound as I have this problem in my system. The SQ out of the demo system raised the hairs on the back of my neck, I have never heard sound produced like this before, it actually touched me at an emotional level.
All of the above suggestions are excellent - thank you! I do think I set my budget to low on the speaker cables, problem is the good ones are quite expensive. DSP room correction I have heard does some amazing things to your system, but I have no idea who makes such devices, can anyone help with this? As far as Synergistic Research goes, I'll check into it. Thanks again everybody. Please keep this going! 

Hello, millercarbon1. I am embarrassed to say I have no idea what HFT, HFTX, ECT is? I think I got the PHT as being fuse upgrades, yes?

Thank you! 

Krell Vanguard Integrated Amp.
Cambridge Audio AZURE 851N Streamer/DAC.
Sony SCD2000ES Transport/SACD player.
Luxman T117 Tuner (Best sounding component)?

I took a quick look at the descriptions and specs of these components, and I’m wondering if a factor in your perception that the tuner might be the best sounding component may be the fact that the Krell integrated amp has unusually high gain (48 db, corresponding to a sensitivity of only 0.16 volts), and consequently the relatively low output voltage of the tuner (0.7 volts in FM mode) may result in using volume control settings that are more optimal than with the other components.

I’m thinking that the high gain of the amp may be causing you to run the volume control of the Cambridge at a setting that is well below max, which can be sonically disadvantageous in the case of volume control mechanisms operating in the digital domain (as is the case with the Cambridge). And perhaps you are having to run the amp’s volume control at undesirably low settings when you listen to the Sony.

If so, you may want to consider inserting Rothwell attenuators at the inputs of the amp to which the Sony and/or the Cambridge are connected. I and a number of others here have reported fine results using Rothwell attenuators, while a few have reported them as causing some compromise to dynamics. I suspect that the latter cases may often be due to impedance issues, which would not be present with your particular components. I would avoid any inline attenuators other than the Rothwells, though, as I know that some of the others have impedances which are much more likely to be problematical.

http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/attenuators.html

Finally, since the Cambridge unit provides both balanced and unbalanced outputs, if you already haven’t I would try both and compare. I would not assume that either one would necessarily provide better sonics than the other, as it will depend on the designs of the interface circuits in both that unit and the amp.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

It all starts with the source and ends with the room.  If you are using the DAC in the Sony SCD2000ES...then that is the weakest link...I know because I owned one...but if you are using the DAC in the Azure...then I'd suggest trying another DAC...there are a lot of better options for $1k....virtually all of them can be returned if they aren't a big improvement.  Here is one link to get you started:

https://www.cherryamp.com/dac-dac-d-to-a-convertor