Will a new Dac improve the sound?

Thanks jjss49 for the suggestions. I believe you backed up what i thought may be the solutions. I leaning toward getting the Dac first, then the subs, then consider moving into world of streaming next. The journey continues.

Having over 40 years in audio and owning a Audio store for 10 years in Europe I have a ton of experience in every dept 

thedac is probably the most important part ,why because every aspect of the music starts there , it’s quality makes or breaks the music for you can’t make up the signal once lost , then loudspeakers , Thst being said even quality cables ,thunk weak links in the audio chain ,there is no shortcuts , $5k-$6k  likeDenafrips terminator 2holo springs May dac 2 perfect examples of great digital at a fair price 

that being said even $1- $2k like Denafrips less expensive R2R dacs which I like 

Bricasti m3 which I bough5 earlier last year use R2R + streamer for $6 k 

buy the best you can afford for digital ,and Ethernet cable ,and digital usb  or I2S  cable counts ,even the Ethernet hub such as uptone audio Etherregen has much good feedback , do a lot of research .

I have the Audiolab CDT6000 cd transport and an MHDT Orchid DAC (tube) connected via a high quality Toslink Wireworld Super Nova 7 feeding into my Apogee Acoustics Duetta II Signatures full range ribbons speakers. The setup sounds incredible. I highly recommend the combo. The Orchid is $1,200 (Linear Tube Audio) and the Audiolab CDT6000 is $600 (as mentioned above). Feel the music!

Cary makes good equipment but the progress in DACs since 2005ish has been enormous. It has Burr-Brown DACs.. I worked at Burr Brown for almost 20 years. Yes, an upgraded DAC can improve the sound. I would recommend a Schiit Gungnir ~$1.2K… or if you really are looking to improve your system over time, invest in a Schiit Yggdrasil… at ~$2.1K these both perform at a much higher level. Should really improve the sound.

You can see my systems under my ID. I have pursued high end digital since the release of the CD (yuck)… and all the incremental improvements since. The DAC is a really critical part of the CD player… night and day since 2005.