Have I Hit The Point Of Diminishing Returns?

You know that it has been written many times before that the latest gear is not necessarily the better sounding gear - most often it's just different sounding gear & at other times it's worse sounding.
You electronics is all good stuff. I'm not a fan of B&W anymore but if you like the sonics then I'd suggest keeping it.
The thing about B&W is that it needs a lot of current to make those speakers come alive. So, from my personal B&W experience, I'm going to say that you are perceiving hitting a ceiling with this gear simply because you do not have sufficient power for the N804. If you can manage it budget-wise I would recommend getting a high current amp - even a class-D power amp. Something with outrageous output power - I'm thinking 400W/ch.
I was never a fan of Cardas cables - too rolled off for me. I believe that this is not helping either. Several inexpensive but supposedly very good sounding brands to try such as Morrow Audio, Signal Cable.
FWIW.

I wouldn't so lightly dismiss Cardas as "rolled off", as if that's a bad thing. From what I see, many, if not most of the complaints here concern bright or forward systems. Many audiophiles fall into the same trap - they construct these "accurate" systems and then bitch about the brightness. It's a delicate balancing act. The room has a lot to do with it as well. If you're in a big room and sitting pretty far from the speakers, a more neutral "better highs" cable may be the thing to balance out the degree of softening the room may have. But if you're sitting 8 feet away from the speakers, those cables/components may tear your head off. This is not a simple thing and you have to let your ears be the judge. There's an old saying - the more you open the window, the more garbage flies in. That's why I'm saying that upgrading has to be done carefully and preferably with the help of someone who knows the gear and whose ears you trust.

Interesting views. My power amp is 225 wpc dual mono, so I THINK it's powerful enough, but I could be wrong. Love how the B&Ws and Cardas sound in this system, although I agree that they may not work in some other systems. Essentially, there seem to be two opposing points of view: (a) marginally "different" sound can be had for a significant price, but it may not be "better" sound or worth the money; and (b) it is possible to achieve 100% improved sound for a reasonable cost, but is component/system synergy dependent. Confusing, no doubt. BTW, my new listening room is a sucky 12x12x8, but I have treated it with GIK Acoustics products which have helped tremendously.

Looking at your system description leads me to ask if you are connecting the Velodyne sub at speaker-level or at line-level. If you are connecting it at line-level you could undoubtedly realize a significant improvement, at minimal cost, by connecting at speaker level.

I say that because, as I mentioned in another recent thread in which you also participated, the output impedance of your BAT preamp rises to very high levels at deep bass frequencies. The input impedance of the line-level inputs of your Velodyne sub doesn't appear to be specified, but typically powered subs have relatively low impedances on those inputs, which would result in significant deep bass rolloff when driven by your preamp. Reproduction of higher frequencies by the main speakers could be adversely affected as well, if the sub is loading the outputs of the preamp.

Regards,
-- Al

Al - I sold the Velodyne and am running the B&Ws full range. Sounds much better ... I will revise my system description.