Potential upgrade path…

backdoor, you wrote "Vthokie the room is actually carpeted. Pretty plush carpet actually. Knowing that and also that this room is really not that small (18x24) would you change your recommendation in any way?"

(1) Since your listening room is not going to change, you should treat the room first.....it will without a doubt help any and all changes that you do or do not make. I am by no means an expert in this area (I have no professional experience), I spent 3 months researching the subject prior to making any changes....and tried a few different rugs before settling on the below

(2) I was a late adopter in "room treatment", I actually ignored it while building my system. I saw countless posts about "treating your room", and finally decided to give it a go. I have to admit I should have done the room treatment much earlier in my process, and it was EASILY the equivalent of upgrading one or two components.

(3) Well it's at least worth looking at what kind of carpet you have, and if you have a pad that is acoustically absorbent. The best carpet package is: made of thick wool at least 1/2" pile, has an "open" cotton/wool backing (no polyester sealant or fibers, and a 1/2" pad that is acoustically absorbant. That combo is not cheap, in a room your size it might be $4,000 or $5,000 installed.

If your current carpet is polyester, nylon, or olefin with a similar sealed backing (which most carpet installed in homes is) you can expect an absorption level of 25% to 30%. A nice 1/2" thick wool carpet with open backing and an absorbant pad should produce 50% to 70% reduction.

(4) I have tested your Aurender and Holo Audio May KTE DAC in my room and system, and IMO they are not limiting factors for your system. The other equipment I have no experience with.

(5) I still believe you should be able to test drive some great speakers to see how they pair with your room (after you treat it), I do think an amazing pair of stand mounts would be worth an audition, and might be more flexible

Vthokie Thank you very much for your input. I will check my carpet and see what kind it is. Also, I may be able to do some more room treatments. And I will also look into some stand mount speakers. Ghdprentice suggested some Sonus Fabers in an earlier post. They looked interesting. Thanks again. 

Let us know how it goes, best of luck to you

Thanks a lot. If I make any changes that make a difference I’ll report them. 

The method for getting the best from $35K would be to add to the Real Estate, if a addition can be had for that outlay.

The method for getting the worst from $35K would to be spend it all over a short duration and on New Model Equipment.

With this type of Budget there are substantial quality used products that can be considered, from Brands that other Competitor Brands more expensive New Models, will struggle to match in SQ.

The performance that can be attained from a used item, at a very attractive VFM and the potential that the depreciation is already maximum, leaves a lot of remunerated funds to replace the original purchase price at a later date.

I would be much happier having a Item that WOW'ed others and then myself and sold after a few years of my ownership as a 5-10% depreciation, as it is still remaining sought after in the HiFi community. Maybe a Appreciation in value is being realized, as has with many of my purchases. 

This would be better for my mental health, than purchasing New and when the resale time comes, it is a item not sought after and a 50%+ depreciation is to be met.

It is a Hobby after all, and upgrades does not necessary mean a New Off the Shelve Device, which might be simply a re-jacketing of a Older Technology is the requirement to improve on a already owned device.