Remarkably better sound possible with just 1 system component change?


I could have posted this discussion to a few other categories but chose this one because discussions related to 2 of the 4 components in question belong here.

So it's been ~2.5 yrs since I purchased my current system. I did a lot of research at the time here on audiogon, but no auditioning, and put together a system that sounds very, very good to me.

While I have no complaints, the itch to upgrade has surfaced recently.

I am curious as to whether you guys think it will be possible for me to replace just 1 of my primary 4 components and obtain significantly better sound as a result. The more discernible and obvious the sound improvement, the better obviously. I am not looking for a marginal upgrade - I want dramatically better sound. And I am not looking to replace more than 1 component at this time. I am hoping to get a few ideas/candidates and then may decide to audition some of the recommendations before making a decision. Hopefully some of the upgrade paths are such no-brainers that I may even be able to take a leap of faith without auditioning. Note also that acoustic room treatments are not viable in my current listening location.
 
My current 4 part system:

1. Lumin D2 - 100% of my listening is streaming via Tidal
2. Mcintosh C2600 preamp
3. Mcintosh MC452 amp
4. Focal Kanta 2 speakers

Cables are Cardas Golden presence RCAs from the Lumin to C2600, Cardas Clear Cygnus XLRs from the C2600 to the MC452, and Kimber 8TC speaker cables to the Kantas.

Soundstaging, dynamics, imaging and overall clarity are all great. I have to say I love the Be tweeters. And the bass is punchy, tight, fast and certainly sufficient for my needs. Vocals and overall sound are warm, liquid smooth and analog-like, just the way I like it. (Forgive me if I've botched some of the characterizations - I'm no expert at this). The only thing I can think of that could use some improvement is the sound quality at lower volume levels, although that is not terribly important to me since most of my listening is in the 90+ Db range. Would be nice, though.

So while I do love the overall sound, surely dramatically better sound can be obtained via a 1 component swap? Budget is ~10k. Or will I need to spend more, or upgrade more than 1 component to achieve the desired result?

Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts.

chandybe
What one can achieve through properly tuning a system is far more than can be done by throwing money at it.
A gold nugget that i discover also from my experience, more limited than yours, but anyway the same...

Thanks

My best regards
Speakers would be the obvious choice. Used 10bgramd would get you better than the Kantas IMO. 

I have been screaming a bit about my latest upgrade which was  dedicated power lines for under 500 bucks. Its a no sh.t upgrade if you haven't done yet. 
Ok I got it.. Fixing the one bad hearing aid? :-)

That would fix a lot of problems..

Regards
Two dirt-cheap suggestions costing under $100 that are night-and-day better to my ears.

1. Drop Tidal, get Qobuz
2. If you are streaming through WiFi, try using an Ethernet cable and turn off the WiFi. If you don't have an Ethernet port close to your audio system, try creating a remote Ethernet access port with a WiFi extender.

Your preferences might be different from mine, but Qobuz sounds better to me even on cheap desktop computer speakers. Moving to Ethernet from WiFi was also eye-opening in its quality difference. The sound quality through WiFi was not even in the same league as using an Ethernet cable.