Grettings xrayz! I see LOTS of ideas/opinions to your post, but when looking at your system, there is a huge issue that I did not see addressed by the others (unless i missed it).
Your system is VERY speaker heavy! No way can the source and amplification you are using do justice with speakers LIKE THOSE sweethearts! There is nothing lacking about your source and amplification components for their PRICE RANGE at all, but just do not have the Nth degree of harmonic and rhythmic articulation for speakers in the almost $10,000 price range. I see people building systems like yours A LOT lately, they will pay 10-15 thou for a pair of speakers, and then put very, very modest gear ahead of them. They are great at impressing your friends, but become somewhat tiresome to listen to for more than 30-45 minutes. What I value about a high performance system is that it satisfies the PLEASURE center of my brain! The reason for better source and amplification is for things like the ability for a system to make EVERY song on an album have meaning and purpose instead of being more like "filler material". Your speakers need more serious gear than what you are using to do that. You would be in new world with even just a $3000 Ayre QB-9 DSD (fed by a dedicated PC or MAC mini with Jriver and NAS with 7200rpm drive) Your Power amp, I admit is actually not as challenged as your source, the McCormick stuff is great stuff, but it might take more than that to really exploit the capabilities of the kind of speakers you have. It's your intellect, the pleasure center in your brain that you ultimately have to satisfy, not just your auditory system. BTW, I'm not a dealer, just a music lover who bought his first HIGH-END system 29 years ago. Good Luck.
Your system is VERY speaker heavy! No way can the source and amplification you are using do justice with speakers LIKE THOSE sweethearts! There is nothing lacking about your source and amplification components for their PRICE RANGE at all, but just do not have the Nth degree of harmonic and rhythmic articulation for speakers in the almost $10,000 price range. I see people building systems like yours A LOT lately, they will pay 10-15 thou for a pair of speakers, and then put very, very modest gear ahead of them. They are great at impressing your friends, but become somewhat tiresome to listen to for more than 30-45 minutes. What I value about a high performance system is that it satisfies the PLEASURE center of my brain! The reason for better source and amplification is for things like the ability for a system to make EVERY song on an album have meaning and purpose instead of being more like "filler material". Your speakers need more serious gear than what you are using to do that. You would be in new world with even just a $3000 Ayre QB-9 DSD (fed by a dedicated PC or MAC mini with Jriver and NAS with 7200rpm drive) Your Power amp, I admit is actually not as challenged as your source, the McCormick stuff is great stuff, but it might take more than that to really exploit the capabilities of the kind of speakers you have. It's your intellect, the pleasure center in your brain that you ultimately have to satisfy, not just your auditory system. BTW, I'm not a dealer, just a music lover who bought his first HIGH-END system 29 years ago. Good Luck.