NAD 302

Since a direct “before-and-after” comparison isn’t possible—making the assessment subjective—I can certainly say the sound is cleaner, background noise is lower, and the decay is better.

The bass is tighter (or perhaps extends lower? I can’t say for sure), as the furniture vibrated during a track I know very well—something that didn’t happen before, even though I hadn’t moved the furniture or changed its contents.
This leads me to conclude that the next area to work on is room acoustics.
I’m satisfied because I’m finding real joy and pleasure in the music, and that’s fantastic!