My stereo isn't doing it for me. Need advice

You have beautiful equipment that, when set up properly, should sound
amazing. While the CD player is not on par with the balance of your system, I do
not think that is the root problem and I am a guy who believes the theory that
"source is king". The Marantz CD player you use is quite nice and, if
anything, it will only be guilty of rounding the rough edges of bad CD sound. I
think inserting a higher resolution player is not what will turn your experience
around.

You are not "connecting" with your system.

The proof that your system is amiss is evinced by the fact that you are turning to
music which is well-recorded rather than to music you like. That is a very bad
sign.

Your room is small but it's the exact same dimensions as mine and I get great
sound (sometimes). Explore better racks and/or speaker stands. Both are hugely
important. For equipment racks, look into Quadraspire and for speaker stands
look into Sound Anchors. I think both will pay dividends.

By the way, I see you like Bob Dylan. Bob's on Letterman show tonight as final
music guest.

Dylan...you are going in the absolute wrong direction with a speaker change. That is not the prob. It's the room and/or racks.