Marc, you have given any reports about how the sound has improved with all your various changes and additions. It’s not clear to me how the sound has improved. You just described it as much better. Better how?
Now you are saying that your favorite genre of music has somehow become less involving and enjoyable. This should be the most important thing for you.
If it were me, I would start by removing your various tweaks and accessories and try to expand your listening window so that you can enjoy more of the music you so much love. I have trouble imagining what more you can add to your system. It is possible you’ve gone too far. Perhaps it is time to try simplifying your system.
Start removing fancy footers and power cords and conditioners and isolation devices and see where that gets you. You can always to go back to the way things are if you don’t like it. The best thing is it’s free. Just a thought.
Transparency on most of my classical and jazz LPs is dramatically improved. Timbral accuracy ditto. Imaging is way more solid and palpable. Instrumental texture and air is off the scale on lots of classical and jazz albums.
Literally LP after LP that previously was a bit grey, monochromatic and closed in, with a layer of gauze, or feeling homogeneous from disc to disc, are now alive, communicative. Critically I'm getting real appreciation for the classical genre now, previously it felt a bit of a slog, so much so that I was actively avoiding playing any of my 700 strong collection.
So for me this is a dramatic step up in my system's ability to really perform admirably with genres it previously was only average on, and thus my tt motor change is wholly positive here, and I would not swap it out.
On my majority genres...classic rock, prog, fusion, electric jazz...its a fascinating case of "take each album as they come". Some classic rock that was pretty good before, and I wasn't expecting an uptick, like Little Feat "Time Loves A Hero", is dramatically more enjoyable, with so much more information rendered in terms of texture, layering and staging, it's effectively a new system playing it, a total triumph.
But play Rush "Snakes And Arrows" straight after, and the previous memory of it being adequately enjoyable but limited sonically now stresses the latter quality, to the point I'm a little distracted by that fact. And more vintage, classic era prog (late 60s to mid 70s) is a bit of a crapshoot, Jethro Tull feeling a little "boxy", but Yes being hugely bold and expressive.
Im actually confident I know what's going on. I've been told for years on this forum that so much of my genre faves are sonic turds, and if my system was shining w them but coloured and grainy w more authentic music like classical and jazz, then my system was indeed tailored and thus not truthfully high fidelity. Well, I think that may be true.
Additionally, since the uptick on a whole swathe of music is so dramatic, the overall contrast to my more limited stuff is highlighted. I guess if your only diet was 100% Big Macs and now it's only 10%, you're REALLY gonna recognise those Big Macs when you eat them less often Lol.
I've also had a parallel experience in a similar vein. When I first auditioned the Extreme server at Barry's, I came away so confused that a source could be so stellar on audiophile fare, but so forensic and frankly hard to listen to on a staple of 70s prog, Genesis "Wind And Wuthering". So, w Extreme and now my newly reinvigorated tt, pressings and masterings now really count.
So Peter, thanks for the advice on stripping out my tweaks, this is not the solution for me in this area, even if it has been for you. My complex conundrum is more an issue that my hugely more revealing analog is wholly positive on hundreds of albums, but a seeming liability on albums who's challenging sonics were maybe buried or disguised by a layer of homogeneity that existed before over my whole LP collection.