16K to Spend. Help me make the end all Upgrade.

Oh man, listen long & hard before buying the Wilsons. Many threads you can search w/ pros & cons, but safe to say that opinions on them are greatly debated.

As a former Avalon owner, I agree that they look great. They are sensitive to matching electronics, but I'm guessing your Pass amp would be great match, if not overkill.

Personally, I prefer others already suggested: Merlins, Veritys, Vandersteen5A, but to each his own. Please consider room placement requirements of whatever you're considering. A great speaker against a wall usually isn't a great speaker anymore; don't spend and fool yourself. Cheers,
spencer

Good advice from Sbank. It would be a pity to spend big bucks and not get good sound because of placement issues. Aside from size, the suggestion of the Vandersteen has the advantage of the speaker offering some flexibility as to bass response should you require placement close to a wall.

Again, I suggest looking into the Gradient Revolution because of its great flexibility and intended placement close to back walls and corners.

I agree with Spencer Bank.

In the right setup, Wilsons can be amazing with their high resolution and the way they hang images in 3D space. Out of all the Wilsons, the Sophias have the advantage of being the smallest and (relatively) easiest to move into optimum position.

BUT!

Wilson speakers came out of Dave Wilson's need for better playback monitors. They are revealing first, musical second. In a professional setting or a no-compromise dedicated listening room, they can be stunning; compromise their placement and room treatment, and you won't be enjoying them so much.

The problem you have here is that you gravitate toward no-holds-barred ruthlessly revealing speakers, while you need to make a concession to placement and decor, the very factors that make ultra high-res speakers unpleasant to listen to.

Placement of any speakers is important, but some more than others, and Wilsons more than most, which is why the purchase of any Wilson speakers includes in-home setup and placement by a factory-trained dealer.

Have you given a listen to any Sonus Faber speakers? They are gorgeous-looking, beautifully made, unfailingly musical, and yet provide a far greater level of detail and resolution than one would expect of "pretty" speakers. The newer "Cremona M" floorstander is relatively modest in size, very full range, and made of hand-placed staves of honey-stained maple, with black accents.

Sonus Fabers are very natural-sounding, but plenty dynamic, and fairly time-coherent. many of their models come with adjustable height feet to adjust the slant of the front panel for best time coherence.

And I guess that's MY long-winded way of saying I also agree with Spencer Bank.

Aerial 10Ts can spoil you because you can pretty much
plop them anywhere and get a friendly sound without
too much boom/sizzle/glare/shrieking/etch or other
audio 4-letter-words. Wilsons and others take a lot more care.
I mention this because I also had the 10Ts driven by the Pass X350 (nice liquid, rounded vocals, a bit small, but fine anyway).
If you're buying new,
you could try to audition some of the speakers that offer home trials where you pay only for shipping if you return them.

Watt Puppies are a completely different experience from the Aerials.
(I went from the 10Ts to the WP6s for a while.)