Seeking advice what to upgrade


I am a newbie at this hobby and am respectfully seeking recommendations on what component in my system would be best to consider for a next upgrade. My humble and cobbled together system currently consists of:

 

10 Octave LP1 tube preamp – two gentlemen out of GA who used to do special effects electronics for movies

Carver M-1.0t mkII opt002 amp upgraded by Nelion Audio

Cambridge Audio Dacmagic Plus used as a DAC

SOtM SMS 200 Neo streamer w Sbooster power supply running Roon

Rega Planar 3 (vintage) with Blue Point MC cartridge and Schiit Mani pre – sounds as good as streaming to me

Klipsch Forte 1 w Crites crossover and tweeter upgrade

Blue Jean speaker cables – actually made a noticeable difference over Home Depot

Lots of room treatment which made a huge improvement in sound stage definition

 

Some previous components:

Ohm Walsh 3xo speakers – nice but blurred soundstage compared to the Forte’s

Jadis Orchestra Reference integrated – very nice, articulate, but weak base compared to current components

 

Overall, I am pretty happy with how it sounds – very nice sound stage and definition, plenty of bass for my ears, great for Jazz and vocals, and generally very clean. I probably stream more than play records as my LP collection is pretty limited at this point. That said, listening fatigue sets in after 30-45 minutes at higher volumes (which the wife likes) and my gut says the overall sound may be a bit bright though I don’t feel the Forte’s are shouty as some have described horn loaded speakers (but I don’t have years of trying different components to compare to).

 

I don’t have a huge budget, maybe 2-3K, which is problematic for this hobby, but you have to start somewhere.

 

Anyway, you all are the experts and have been down this road already. Looking for some navigation guidance on my next move. Thanks much.




dmartens
There’s two main ways you can do this. One is if you know there’s some kind of problem or major weakness with one of your components, that would be the logical one to replace. Like when you had lamp cord, going to quality wire was a total no-brainer.

What I see, listener fatigue at volume, but not sure which component(s) are to blame. Odds are Klipsch, they play loud but not smooth and stress free. If you can sell those for $1k (or more?) then your $2-3k will get you comfortably into Tekton Double Impacts https://www.tektondesign.com/double-impact.html Don’t worry about not being able to audition. I got Moabs last summer, Eric Alexander makes some absolutely fantastic speakers. Clean, clear, dynamic, extended, neutral and most importantly in your case absolutely strain free. If you experience any fatigue whatsoever its not from the speakers!

Strain and listener fatigue can also come from electronics. I’m not gonna mess with your digital, it is after all just digital, it is what it is. Not gonna touch your table either, already said not a lot of vinyl. Plus doing that before the rest of your system is prepared for quality vinyl playback is kind of a waste.

That leaves your amp. Carver and tubes are okay but I will say sell them both, along with the interconnect and whatever power cord they are sucking up, and get one of these: https://www.ravenaudio.com/product/nighthawk-mk3-tube-amplifier/ Yes that is plenty of power. If it doesn’t sound more powerful, with better bass and everything than your Carver, I will eat this post. Which would be quite a stunt if you could see it, only you won’t, because when you hear it you will agree.

I am still leaning Double Impacts, offering this more to give you some idea where you could be going. DI/Nighthawk would be awesome and crazy good for the money.

Last idea which depending on how you do it, could be done together not either/or- springs or Pods. Springs under your speakers (and everything else) is a huge upgrade. Nobsound springs from Amazon are terrific high value and very versatile. There’s also plain springs but they are a lot of time and trouble to figure out. Finally there’s Townshend Pods, by far the best but also most expensive.

Springs made a huge improvement in my system, particularly in the same area of shouty fatigue, taking the sound in a much more natural smooth direction yet doing this without losing any detail. There is in fact more detail revealed now that the ringing is gone. https://forum.audiogon.com/users/millercarbon

I got this with all 3 types of springs, they are all in there, which is how I know they all work, and which works best, and for what value. Townshend cost more but are worth it, they are just as good value as the cheaper stuff. http://www.townshendaudio.com/hi-fi-home-cinema-equipment-vibration-isolation/seismic-isolation-pods...
https://www.amazon.com/Nobsound-Aluminum-Speakers-Isolation-Amplifiers/dp/B07K9ZYP84  

(Search eBay for plain springs.)


Same for the others. Speakers or amp. Its all down to how you want to do it, and in what order, etc. Any one of these will take you in the direction you want to go- and you will be surprised how much.
I think that the speakers are the greatest contributor to your fatigue. If you have loading settings on your phono preamp you can mess with these. 
Before reading I pretty much assumed MC’s solution was going to be "sell all your gear and buy Raven and Tekton." That’s the answer to all things audio guys. I suppose incessant posting of the same recommendations for the same gear day after day is cheap marketing for someone.