I am looking to upgrade - looking for advice

@tjraubacher 

It’s difficult to make suggestions without a budget and your future plans for upgrading.  Separate preamp and amp offers upgrade flexibility, but an integrated offers better value - saving $ on casework and additional cable.  

TJ, you have received a lot of good advice here so I’m just going to emphasize some of those things I heard that I mostly agree with. For starters, I owned a Debut Carbon (my brother has it now) and it’s a great entry level table. I would recommend a cork mat, like the Music Hall, over the factory felt. It doesn’t sound any better but static electricity is less of an issue.

The Bluesound Node is great (I have two) but adding an outboard DAC is likely your best $ for $ upgrade. Just keep in mind that if you listen to hi-rez tracks for example, Tidal uses MQA to deliver them and you would lose that ability if your new outboard DAC lacks that feature.

Building a system around components that are all at a similar price point is great advice but I would add what I think is a reasonable exception -speakers. I have always stretched the budget to get better speakers. They impact what your ears perceive more than any other component. And the two most important relationships in your setup are those between your amp and speakers and between your speakers and your listening room. Get those right and you are well on your way.

Which brings me to my next point. Spending on upgrades before you have optimized your listening room is putting the cart before the horse. If you feel something is missing, you could start by adjusting speaker placement looking to improve the aspects of the sound that you feel are lacking. Soundstage width and depth as well as bass response can be substantially improved with tweaks to toe-in and distance changes. Playing around with positioning can yield surprising results and helps you to get to know the sound of your system. Move them closer together and then farther apart and listen to what changes. I used to try to have my speakers as far apart as possible to get a wide soundstage but there is a point at which that is detrimental. When you locate that sweet spot you’ll know you are on to something.

It’s helpful to start with a test disc if you have one, to verify things like balance for example. It’s also helpful to use tracks you are very familiar with and to use as many different types of music as you might listen to. All of which is mostly free and only requires patience and time. I use a tape measure to make sure speakers are the same distance from the side walls and from behind. Even if your listening room is asymmetrical optimizing placement yields big rewards.

If after all that you still have the itch, at least you should be able to better identify the specific areas needing improvement. Good luck.  

Thanks everyone for all the good advice. Here is what I am doing:

I have bought upgraded cables ( went from cheap to expensive end of cheap). I am upgrading my streamer to the eversolo dmp a6. I am getting rid of my Rotel preamp and amp (1572/1552). I bought a used Hegel h390. Can’t wait till it all gets here and I can connect it all up. By the way when I was researching connectors to buy I ran across RCA cables for $28K. OMG

congrats, i think you'll be happy.

@tjraubacher

Congratulations. It is likely you will enjoy the upgrade with your choice of the Hegel. Not sure the streamer is an upgrade… fingers crossed.

Tell us what you think when it is all assembled.

Typically cabling is chosen after you have had many hours of listening and know what you want from a cable. For instance, most of my interconnects, cables and power cords are $3K ($3 - 5K). I purchased them six months or a year after upgrading my components. I have had a some Nordost Odin 2 in my system for several weeks… they were unbelievable… I had a hard time giving them back.