What would you upgrade?

Thank you all for the responses!

BCgator, I agree on the source material not being of the finest quality, no doubt about it. I thinks that's why I'm looking for a setup that is a little more forgiving then what I currently have.

The DirectSteam DAC looks really nice, but the focus seems to be on CD's and DSD. I do not own any CD's, only a vinyl collection that's been collecting dust for about 10 years. Have not really looked hard at DSD yet because I can not find much content that I would enjoy listening too. Truthfully I have not looked that hard because I do not have a DSD capable DAC.

Regarding a turntable, I'd like to stay somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 assuming the amp/pre I end up with has a phono stage. If not, I would probably budget around $700.

I'm starting to think that selling off my entire amp/speaker setup and reinvesting might be the way to go, not to mention it would increase my budget to around 8k. That changes things a bit.

Michael, regarding the Totem Hawks, I plan to listen to them tomorrow at a shop in New Jersey. They seem to be on AG on a regular basis at good prices. I feel good about the Rainmakers regarding Jazz but nothing else, really. Are the Hawks that different that they'll be able to cover more types of music comfortably? I plan to research the Plinous tonight. Any other recommendations for a full ranger that covers rock/jazz/electronic well? Starting with the speaker and working backwards would seem to make the most sense.

Thank you all again for taking the time. Regardless of how long it takes or where it ends up, I'll report back once the dust settles.

Weak sources and now wants to add cheap turntable. Not how I'd do it.

Agreed, noromance. Scratch the turntable all together. If I'm heavily investing in dead formats I might as well go out an buy a SACD player.

Which reminds me..

Any OPPO owners in this thread? I've read amazing things about its capabilities as a DAC and could kill 2 birds with one stone using it for bluray as well. Any users with any of the tube modified ones?

I must agree with Noromance. Quality of a system begins at the source. If my budget for a turntable, arm and cartridge is $700, then I would budget no more than $1000-1500 on amplification to include phonostage. Probably about the same for speakers. I would then spend the rest at record stores. I believe you could put together a fine sounding system for under half your $8000 total budget. If I had to spend $8000, I would cons ider turntables in the $2000 range. Spotify is great for background music, and finding new artists when not spinning records.

I would replace your dac (definitely one of the most limiting items in your stack) with the Berkeley Dac on sale here for just under $2,000. That leaves you $3k and, even though I like the rainmakers in a small, nearfield system, spend $3k on the larger totems and see where you are. Five grand can do alot, or a little... but, dont do this to listen to 320kps material. Better ff blowing the five grand on a girl or vacation. (vinyl and sacd are not dead formats - they blow away anything you have been listening to).