Speaker performance and interaction with room acoustics have by far the biggest impact on sound quality. You might want to consider getting a measurement microphone and putting the REW program on a laptop. Then run a frequency sweep and review the results. You may be surprised as to how uneven the response is. That can be addressed with acoustic room treatments, adjusting speaker placement, and/or adding room correction. I added room correction to my system and got an improvement in SQ that was well beyond any equipment change I've made.
Thoughts on DAC option
Current DAC is the original Auralic Vega . This was a HUGE upgrade in sound quality from a Cambridge Audio DAC Magic.
And things are good right now. Well, mostly, it's not like we are generally blessed with freedom from the desire to upgrade!
And now I have an option of a Chord 2qute. My main issue with the current setup is the fatigue on some music. EDM is generally fantastic, however rock is often harsh. Voices are great.
So the question is whether the Chord could smooth off the sharper edges of things.
All feedback gratefully received.
System is:
Sources - PC and Auralic Aries Mini
Amp - Prima Luna Frank Hybrid Integrated
Speakers - Krix Harmonix 2
Interconnects and speaker cables are average but not the biggest factor here from what I can tell.