Warming up digital in my setup

The following is just upgrading which should remove your issues. 
 

1. Better DAC - Schiit Yggdrasil if on tight budget

2. A real steamer using Qobuz at minimum Bluesound… better will help even more.

I’ve used a couple dozen different streamer / DAC combos over the last 20 years. I would not spend time worrying about cable lengths an connectors until you have upgraded and broken in my recommendations above for several hundred hours and know what they sound like.

My systems are shown for your reference.

I built a box with 2 Western Electric 111C transformers wired in parallel 1:1 between my digital and preamp. Old Japanese trick, softens it up, filters out hash, sounds more “analog”. Not for everyone but I love it.

You got what you paid for.  Need a separate DAC.

Hey martinman, you and I seem to have similar priced setups at the moment. I believe I may have some insight for you. My system is as follows:

B&W CM9 S2
Peachtree Nova 300
Jamo sub
iFi Zen Stream + Roon (Qobuz & Tidal) with USB out

I've experimented with networking and power stuff--and I'm going to experiment with DAC's next--but for me, the big level up was moving to the iFi streamer. I wrote a little review with some thoughts, which you can read here on Agon. Some of the only other things that could compete with the level of improvement were adding a sub, adding nicer feet to the speakers/stands, and placing the speakers on stands. 

+1 for Yggdrasil!