I want to be moved and have the music touch my soul!

honashagensez ...

• I tend to buy recordings because of the sound quality. Steely Dan, Lee Ritenour, Keith Johnson reference recordings, Sheffield Labs.

Therein lies the problem. Stay away from the usual audiophile recordings and get into some recordings made in the Golden Age of Stereo (including reissues). That would be the late 50’s to mid-’60s. Also, consider some of the great mono recordings that were never released in stereo. There are some real gems there. This applies to rock, classical and jazz.

Don’t get me wrong here. I also have a boatload of audiophile recordings, most of which were bought in the early ’80s. They continue sitting on the shelves taking up nothing but space. They very seldom get placed on the turntable. Most of them are soulless when it comes to musical expression, with the emphasis on sound. And even then, most have mediocre sound when you get right down to it.

Frank

I, like most audio fans, have changed components countless times over the years, generally resulting in somewhat better sound overall. That said, the move I most recently made to a tube preamp partnered with a single ended tube power amp, and adding (necessarily due to the lower wattage SE amp) efficient speakers, resulted in the largest overall improvement in sound quality I've ever enjoyed by a large margin. Simply more involving and musical for my tastes, and really providing the mojo I like...I use a couple of great sounding subs also (had these even before the tube stuff), which make my somewhat low bass reticent main speakers sound glorious. 

Like say N80 : room dynamic then room treatment...

But isolation and damping of vibrations and resonance between each pieces of gear and from the room or from the desk, is very important...

Put some agate and tourmaline (cheap rock bids on ebay) on your power strip or conditioner, or amp or on top of the oppo or a big chunk under it... Try pink quartz if your system is too warm... Agate from madagascar if it is too analytical... Black tourmaline is in between...

My own system was not moving my heart without all that...Now any upgrade seems ridiculous...My heart bounce...Even with  less loved of my cd or files...


Read about room treatment,damping and isolation...For the stones, all people think that I am mad and there exist nothing in literature audio very serious about that...It is my own experiment...But the results are astounding...I will never upgrade...Try some and experiment yourself...

Remember tthat almost all people give their money in upgrade because their heart is not moved by their system, the reason is almost all the times, at least very often, their  system is not cleaned, their room not treated, and the gear not damped,nor isolated...Read and think it is fun to explore...

Some things come to my mind: 

1) If you're "bored" listening to that kind of equipment list then something must surely be wrong with your setup somewhere. 

2) When most people are using the word "soul" to describe their connection to the sound, they're usually referring to LP playback. I wouldn't go as cheap as possible to fill that role, but I'm a digital guy really, so others may be a better guide for zeroing in on a likely solution.

3) I might replace the Oppo sure enough, whether you replaced it with a better CDP or DAC or a TT. The Oppo, especially if it's unmodified, is likely to be rather veiled and un-involving.

4) I might also look into power conditioning of some kind.

5) It might help us if you could put into a single idea of what exactly you're looking for in the way of sound quality improvement that you feel might get you there. Resolution?? Tone?? Dynamics?? 

Regards

Making your system sound better will not necessarily increase your emotional involvement with the music you listen to.  It will simply make your system sound better.  On paper you have a high quality system that should be fully capable of engaging you as a listener.  Is it possible that something else going on in your life prevents you from fully enjoying music?