everything sounded great until the upgrade

@ghdprentice 

1. Book: I wouldn't understand it. Not only that, it would frustrate me that I don't. It would also frustrate me that I don't have the budget to do more (more that costs $) I like technology but more than that I love the awesome and beautiful sound. I don't t really care about how the signals get to my speakers. Not in any disrespectful way, just I am not a nerd that way.

2. DAC Definitely! I am borrowing my brother's a test it out first. 

3. New speakers. I don't have any desire to buy different speakers. I love the look and the sound. Of course if I won the lottery and saved all the orphans from Ukraine and had anything less, I would want the Martens.

4. I will do the photos. I will embarrass myself using West End cubes for speaker stands but. That's where they are.

@grislybutter

The book will not frustrate you… it talks a lot on how to assemble a great system on a shoestring budget. Knowledge empowers you and makes you more effective regardless of budget.

the sound of the "new" amp is decent with my turntable, and terrible with my CD player.

My guess would be that's because analog is so much better than digital. It may not be your CD player, but your CDs. Or both.

When I upgraded my speakers, I could no longer listen to CDs, because (I thought) the CD player was not as good as the rest of my components. I could not listen to ANY CDs without cringing. My records sounded even better though.

Then I upgraded my CD player, and sure enough, many of my CDs sounded much better. But the MAJORITY of my CDs still sounded awful, many of them even worse, and those I just ended up giving to Goodwill. Many of these were from the 80s and 90s, when digital recording and mastering (DDD, "all digital") was considered the apotheosis of recorded sound.

The (sequential) upgrades of my amp, speakers, and CD player gave me some wonderful sound, but also limited me in what I can listen to. Crappy recordings and/or masterings just do not cut the mustard any more. I have to be more diligent and discerning in what recorded material I choose to invest in (both digital and analog, but especially digital). It's a bit of a trade-off, but one I'm content to make, because of the wonderful sound I get with the right recordings.

@ghdprentice 

yes, I am going to buy it, it can't hurt. Worst case is that I will not get it....

But.... I am in it for the fun, and not to climb mountains up in the clouds with zero visibility :)

@theo714 

but also limited me in what I can listen to

that's a hill I don't know how to climb. I need a compromise (system that makes what I like sound good. Maybe there should be a software that re-samples to music we like to our taste :)