Analog Upgrade - Where to start?

The PS Audio Stellar is a new item that was most likely introduced very recently in your system. So my question is this: did you develop this desire for more dynamics before you purchased the Stellar or after? For this it would help to know what phono amp it replaced and also the rest of the system. As it stands now, anything could be the cause of your discontent.

I do not know your analog front end from personal experience, but these are highly respected components, including that Dynavector. As for the Stellar, maybe it is 'stellar' especially at the price which is 'sane' for a change. But perhaps it doesn't sit well with your pre amp, there's no way to tell.

However, do not for a moment believe that one of the current top price MC's will significantly improve on the Dyna in the dynamics department, although more fine detail can be retrieved by some of these. I have many MC's from current to quite old and there is no across the board improvement in moving coil cartridge design, no matter what the reviewers and some posters here would like you to believe. My Dynavector Karat Nova 13D from the 1980's (to stay with Dyna) is no less dynamic or detailed than - say - my Ortofon MC Anna or A95. An early 2000's original cantileverless Ikeda 9 Rex will be hard to beat on dynamics by ANY new cartridge, regardless of their 'break through' design, marketing or price. 

Musicality is a personal call and not necessarily related to your other demands and very much the result of system synergy. To my ears and in my system some of the 'old' cartridges like Miyabi Standard or even Fidelity Research FR-7fz are more 'musical' than any of these modern 'state of the art' cartridges. So think hard before you fork out at least 7 or 8 grand for one of these.

@rauliruegas I agree that every cartridge has its own signature and 'natural color'. That is exactly why it makes sense to have more than one, because no single cartridge can do everything right. There is no 'best' in this game. And I will stand by my remark that in this sense today's 'best' cartridges are not generically 'better' than the 'best' of yesterday.

Changing cartridges has become one of the more enjoyable aspects of my audio life, but it is also good to have a benchmark, a reference you can return to in order to reset your ears. For me that's the Van den Hul Colibri XPW Blackwood, a low output version with platinum coil wires (no longer in production). This does many things better than most, but not everything.

Obviously this is all very much system dependent, so it makes sense to select a phono amp that is as 'neutral' as possible and adds as little of a signature or 'natural color' of its own. I don't know if the Stellar meets up to this, but I agree SS is probably 'best' in handling the extremily low voltage levels generated by MC's.

The rest of the OP's system is also very high level: the speakers are known for their dynamic capabilities, solid class A power amp and a preamp that provides the 'natural color' of tubes which many people value. To be honest I have my reservations about the Stellar's capability to keep up with this quality level. It may be the overachiever some people claim it to be, but that's still no guarantee it is a great match for the ARC pre and Pass power, which are often used together and seem to work very well as a team. So your first priority should be to make sure that the phono amp has good synergy with these, before you start messing around with the 'natural color' of top dollar MC's.

@rauliruegas as much as I love my Colibri, it’s a temperamental bird and its performance is more system dependant than most other cartridges. I’ve heard four different ones (different coil and body materials) in quick succession in the same system and they all sounded (very) different. If the rest of the system is not well balanced and within the ’neutral’ zone, the outcome has every chance of being highly unpredictable.

The ’unanswered question’ in this discussion is if the OP had the same issue before acquiring the Stellar, which must have been very recently. What phono amp did he use before, what made him decide to change and was it an improvement?

Let me try to put it differently: the best new and vintage MC’s all more or less play in the same ballpark, with different strenghts and flavours. But a change in phono amp several years ago elevated the performance plateau completely, making all cartridges sound much better. Some were transformed almost beyond recognition.

To the OP I would say: changing the cartridge to one of the top MC’s will surely change the sound and most likely for the better, just don’t underestimate the impact of the phono amp.

Dear @rauliruegas, you have a strong positive opinion about the Stellar, which I assume is based on personal experience? I don’t know about you, but I have learned not to trust reviewers at face value. But reading between the lines of these reviews the Stellar appears to be something special, I’ll give ’em that. I haven’t heard it myself, so don’t have an opinion. I only suggested that lack of synergy with the line stage might be a possible reason for the OP’s discontent. Which is why it would be interesting to learn what phono amp it replaced.

@rauliruegas you really don't have to SHOUT, I'm well aware the cartridge is the source. I have over 30 of them. But system synergy involves more than simply choosing the 'best' cartridge you can afford.

If the OP is convinced by your suggestions he will be replacing a Dynavector XV-1S - still a current model that retails for 5k - by a Colibri or other high level MC, probably costing >5k. I really hope this will get him what he's looking for, but I wouldn't bet on it.