if you're committed to your speakers, a dac would be a logical upgrade--in your range i'd look at chord or smsl, though there's many others. room treatments are always a good idea as well.
Any Improvement Possible for B&O-Hsu-Paradigm-Apple System?
This all started with an ad I saw for a pair of B&O 8000 “Pencil” speakers. I bought those and want to keep them as the center of my system. Since I assembled my system without professional advice, I am interested in ideas on possible improvements. I like the sound, but am looking to increase the realism of my music. I mostly play jazz through my Apple iPad Pro, listening to radio stations around the world on radiogarden.com. I listen at lower levels most of the time, maybe 20-25% of the sound level bar on my iPad.
My room is 20ft by 40ft with 8ft high ceilings. The walls are mostly large windows and patio doors, floor is concrete, and ceiling is drywall. The only fabric in the room is a sofa. It also has bookshelves and a kitchen. My listening position (LP) is about 8ft from a side wall and 12ft back from a windowed short wall, facing toward the short wall. The subs are midway against the long walls, facing each other, and behind the LP. They sit on thick rubber pads
My equipment is:
Apple AirPort Express Wireless Router a1392 300Mbps
B & O BeoLab 8000 speakers, the right one 9ft from the LP and the left one 12ft
Hsu ULS15 Mk II 15in sealed sub
Paradigm Monitor Series 7 12in sealed sub, via Paradigm wireless transmitter
Cables are Monoprice 10ft and 25ft 22awg 3.5mm plugs to RCA connections
Everything is powered, and the only adjustments I can make are on the backs of the subs. If I spend $500 or $1000 can I improve my system? I’ve though about a DAC, better cables or another Hsu, but I don’t know if they would make any noticeable improvement.