What to do next???

Grendel: I made myself this question: am I getting the most out of the actual system I have? and this made me think about the basics again. Work on power and vibration. Power : clean power dedicated lines if possible, dedicated ground good quality wall plates, good quality plugs, power cord placement .... All this details apply to any system and could give you a much better platform to work at current equipment level and allow you to enjoy more future updates.

Why do anything? You have a great system. You can continue to spend more money upgrading one or more components in your system every six months. You will never achieve the end state because there is always something better (or newer) out there. Spend a few dollars on new music and don't worry about your equipment.

Just some random thoughts ... (a) Consider using the transport from the DV-05 and buying and outboard DAC - like the BelConte DAC-1 upsampling DAC - about $1000 (twice the budget, but may be worth waiting for) (b) For Soundtrack DD5.1 playback, I would guess (truly) that you would have more advantages to using the Marantz to decode. (c) For 24/96, use the D/A's in the Pioneer DV-05 Good Listening!!

I would change source to a dedicated CD player such as Parasound CDC1500 I got mine new at auction for about $350 it use the Burr/Brown chipset that has become so popular. As for the Dac in your Pioneer or the Marantz, I would choose the one that you like the sound of better. After all its your ears that need to be satisfied in the end. I do agree with the others that the speakers are the most important. Have fun and happy listening.

As long as you have some respectable gear up front, changing your speakers will make an infinitely greater difference than electronics in your perceived sound. Once you have some great speakers, then you can start to bring out their subtle qualities by upgrading your electronics. Although I have an all LINN system, I don't subscribe to their philosophy. My personal experience has taught me that the chain begins with the speakers - not the source. You'll be broke if you try to keep up with that racket. Once you have a solid system you can try out different sources at your whim - but you'll know the basics are their.

As long as you have some respectable gear up front, changing your speakers will make an infinitely greater difference than electronics in your perceived sound. Once you have some great speakers, then you can start to bring out their subtle qualities by upgrading your electronics. Although I have an all LINN system, I don't subscribe to their philosophy. My personal experience has taught me that the chain begins with the speakers - not the source. You'll be broke if you try to keep up with that racket. Once you have a solid system you can try out different sources at your whim - but you'll know the basics are their.

I would make your source your number one concern. All others come secondary in my opinion. I don't know much about the pioneer, but you might want to compare the sound of the pioneer to say a Rega Planet CD player which can be bought used for about 500.00. I have a friend who bought the planet and it was a big improvement over Rotel 855. The Planet is on the laid back side which I would think might match well with an integrated solid state receiver.