Biggest impact: moving from integrated to separates

@robd2h , thanks. I am fine with used or new. Perks of new would be a forgiving return policy in most cases. Perks of used would be buying up a few levels at my budgeted price. 

Where are you located? It really is best to work with a dealer who lets you take home gear for in home demo. I've actually set a rule for myself that I can't by any expensive gear without hearing it in my system first as system synergy is very very important. But I'm lucky to have many dealers close by. Well the rule is mostly enforced : )))

The dealers also have demo gear that you can negotiate very well on. 

Some other thoughts
-Thoughts on the new Pass xp-12?
-I'm not a big fan of the expensive McIntosh preamps but the newer c47 is a great piece and you would get a good DAC. 
- with the c47 you could do a fun shootout with your new pass phono.
- an older Ayre preamp would be very nice
- my personal favorite and this would be tough to do for price range but not impossible. VAC makes an entry level line stage that really impressed me when I had it home for a 2 week demo. I liked it so much I bought one of their more $$$$ lines stages. This would be a tough deal though because of your budget. But if you could find a dealers demo with no phono and you come up some extra $ ....

Just for fun do some research on the bigger VAC "instruments".

@robd2 thanks for this. I would love a Pass Labs XP12 however even at the intro price of $5K it's more than I want to spend. If I go the Pass route, it may be the XP10 at half the price. 

Regarding McIntosh, I've looked at the C47, however, is McIntosh the same as it used to be before the buyouts? You are not the first to mention Ayre...I'll dig a little further into that. 

My challenge in Pittsburgh is that there is one decent hifi shop but like many they only carry so many brands. 

I really appreciate your feedback and I do agree about system specifics, etc. For me, I do not listen to any of this feedback as gospel because of all of the variation and personal preference one needs to consider, however, I gain insight into different brands that I may not be familiar with, and I can see what's trending (similar to your comment on Ayre which I have seen plenty of in the forums.)

I'll keep you posted on how I get on.