Analog Upgrade - Where to start?


I am looking to upgrade my LP playback system.  My current system is a mixed bag of new and old: SME 20/2 turntable (from about 2005), Kuzma 4 point nine Tonearm and the SME Series V Tonearm, Dynavector MC DRT XV-1s (retipped by Soundsmith), PS Audio Stellar phono pre.  I am looking to introduce more dynamic sound, detail (without edge) and musicality.  The rest of my system supports this end.  Any suggestions on where might be the best place to start the upgrade?
chilli42
The PS Audio Stellar is a new item that was most likely introduced very recently in your system. So my question is this: did you develop this desire for more dynamics before you purchased the Stellar or after? For this it would help to know what phono amp it replaced and also the rest of the system. As it stands now, anything could be the cause of your discontent.

I do not know your analog front end from personal experience, but these are highly respected components, including that Dynavector. As for the Stellar, maybe it is 'stellar' especially at the price which is 'sane' for a change. But perhaps it doesn't sit well with your pre amp, there's no way to tell.

However, do not for a moment believe that one of the current top price MC's will significantly improve on the Dyna in the dynamics department, although more fine detail can be retrieved by some of these. I have many MC's from current to quite old and there is no across the board improvement in moving coil cartridge design, no matter what the reviewers and some posters here would like you to believe. My Dynavector Karat Nova 13D from the 1980's (to stay with Dyna) is no less dynamic or detailed than - say - my Ortofon MC Anna or A95. An early 2000's original cantileverless Ikeda 9 Rex will be hard to beat on dynamics by ANY new cartridge, regardless of their 'break through' design, marketing or price. 

Musicality is a personal call and not necessarily related to your other demands and very much the result of system synergy. To my ears and in my system some of the 'old' cartridges like Miyabi Standard or even Fidelity Research FR-7fz are more 'musical' than any of these modern 'state of the art' cartridges. So think hard before you fork out at least 7 or 8 grand for one of these.

You have a great front end.  Check the arms and carts are still set up correctly.
The cart and the phono amp are the weaker areas but still quality pieces.

If your feeling that the system is missing dynamics is only recent, may I respectfully suggest you take a hearing test.  I don't know how old you are but many aspects of hearing quality and completeness start to become challenged as we get older.  If you're not hearing the top end of the frequency range so strongly or at all, you will certainly perceive this as a loss of dynamics.

I am 72 and am going through just that.  So I recently tested my HF hearing with a Hi-fi News Test CD.  It has a range of frequency tones, all recorded at the same level.   I found I could only just hear 8kH.
So my system doesn't sound so exciting.  But I find I'm listening more to the music than the system, so that's alright in a way.
Depending on your setting, diffusers will brighten up the sound a whole bunch specially if you only have absorbers. Sometimes it's not the equipment, it's the acoustics.