gguy767- Everyone says that I’ll get addicted and want better this and that but I think I’m a tad more of a music lover than an audiophile. Good. So you want to know the very best bang for the buck, after moving things around to get the best speaker placement possible, is a tube of Total Contact.This stuff will transform your system in a way you can hardly even imagine. All the other stuff you’re talking about will make a difference. For sure. But you could spend thousands and not get to where one $300 tube of TC will get you. No set of tubes ever made at any price will get you anywhere even close. Probably no speaker or amp for that matter.
Search around for mahgister and his thread on his system. Its a very budget level system and he’s outside the US so no Total Contact but the point is the same: its way better and more cost effective to tweak what you have than to buy more expensive components.
Other top contenders, all of which are much more cost effective than tubes or components: BDR Cones, Synergistic Research Orange Fuse, ECT, HFT and PHT.
I didn’t see anything in your comments about speaker cables, interconnects, or power cords. If you are still using the cheap freebie patch cords and rubber power cords they ship with components then those should be the first to go. After that, don’t even think about tubes or components until you’ve done the list above. Start with TC, you will see what I mean.