AMP or Preamp

Agreed with adg101. Modwright makes awesome sounding gears and are cheaper than ARC.

I don’t believe the new ModWright KWH 225i is shipping yet but this might be something decent to hold you over in the meantime or use the rest of your cash to get a proper table.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9fiei-modwright-kwi-200-stereo-integrated-amplifier-kwi200-remo...

Caphill, leaning in that direction, nothing but positive comments on the ARC preamps.

Vincent SP-332 amp
Schiit Freya pre
They both perform well above their respective price points

Look for a used ARC linestage preamp preferably their Reference series preamps such as the ARC Ref 6 or Ref 10 if you can afford them cause these ARC Ref 6 & Ref 10 preamps (especially the Ref 10 pre) cost many times more than the Mac C2600 preamp. Then get the ARC Reference series amps or you can still keep using your Rotel RB-1590 power amp for now and then upgrade to the ARC Reference series amps later down the road. ARC (Audio Research) gears pair really well with Wilson Audio speakers. McIntosh gears don’t sound good on Wilson Sasha speakers. McIntosh gears sounded good on Sonus Faber speakers though. Those are pretty good pairings.

The ARC Ref 6 or Ref 10 preamps will be a huge step up sonically from the McIntosh C2600 preamp. All ARC linestage preamps are pure analog linestage preamps (no DAC).

I'd go with the Mcintosh C2600, outstanding across the board.  Then match an amp to the C2600.

Upgrade the preamp first. Get the one that is better than the built-in preamp section of your Yamaha receiver. I think your Hegel DAC is probably good not sure I haven’t heard it before. Hegel generally makes good products. If you plan on keep using the Hegel DAC with a Bluesound Note streamer I suggest you look for a pure analog linestage preamp (no DAC). The McIntosh MC2600 preamp has built-in DAC.

Your Rotel RB-1590 power amp is pretty good, and especially for its MSRP of $3k it is really good. I’ve heard this amp before driving the B&W 803 D3 speakers and was very satisfying. Also got plenty of power reserve on tap to drive just about power hungry speakers out there. It drove those B&W 803 D3 with ease and effortlessly. Of course there’s always room for improvements especially to pair with your Wilson Sasha speakers. But for now I would focus on upgrading your preamp and upstream electronics first before the power amp. 

Lots of good suggestions.  Going to take some time digging into all this.

Definitely upgrade amplifier before anything else. You need a high current amplifier cos the Sasha’s impedance dips very low around 80 Hz.  I stand corrected on 80 Hz. 

McIntosh C47 pre
McIntosh MC-312

ENJOY!!!

check out the Aesthetix Mimas intergrated amp hybrid can add DAC Phono or high pass   
Great components 
and I second  Audio Connetion great bunch of guy and sell AESTHETIX

Don’t let anyone criticize you over your current components. Your receiver is certainly your weak spot and although there is nothing wrong with a Rotel amp, I have to believe the Wilsons would reward you for giving them better power. 

Several people have mentioned Pass, which would probably work well. If you like solid state, the Plinius or SimAudio are reasonably price brand to consider. Sim is a little darker while Plinius has a more tube like character. 

If you like the tube sound then then you may consider Audio Research. Wilson dealers often pair them together and it does sound very nice. AR is hybrid so they can better handle the challenging impedance curve and power requirements of Wilson better than full tube. 

I would seriously consider an integrated. Although separate amp/preamp would be ideal, you will pay more for the components plus you will need cables which adds to the cost. Improving components without using proper cables is somewhat of a waste. An integrated removes the need for the extra cables, so you can spend a little more on a better integrated and put some money towards power and speaker cables. 

Enjoy the journey and have fun!

Anyone critical of the current mismatch between speakers and amps forgets that standard audiophile advice is to max out on quality of speakers first and then work on what’s up the chain. OP did this and is asking the next step. Bravo!

I would suggest that the best advice would not include a focus on a specific model or brand yet. With a limited budget (even though $5k isn’t chicken feed) I suggest that used gear is the way to maximize the value you get, and the best way to try different combinations of gear is to buy used and listen to them for extended periods; keep what you like and resell/replace what you don’t. To do this, you need to establish a range of brands and models that you're interested in, and be flexible about what used stuff is available at good prices.  

So that’s a perpetual journey or at least years. But it’s fun. Buy good quality gear from here, from good dealers, and even ebay and Craigslist (I’ve had plenty of success on both). A modest percentage of your budget (say, 10%-20%) will be in losses in buying and reselling gear, but that will easily be balanced by the tremendous value you get in buying used gear.

Look for brands like McIntosh (rarely a bargain though); Levinson, Krell, Classe, Pass, the others commonly mentioned here.

I’d focus on separates for now because ultimately that is likely to sound best, but also because you can test variables more easily with separates than an integrated. On cables I just would avoid the $5 kind for now. Until you settle on gear that you’re going to keep a long time, you might find more cable mismatches than matches.

With a limited budget, I’d stay with solid state. Tubes are great but they can be expensive and tube gear fussy. And if you are swapping through gear looking for the best combos for those fine speakers, you won’t want to have spent big$$ on tubes that you can’t use when you change gear.

Good luck! This is part of the fun of the hobby; don’t look at it like a leap and a stop...look at it as a series of fun Saturdays!

Thought I'd share my experience, as I upgraded a few months ago from Wilson Sabrina to a used pair of Sasha 2.  I've been driving them with an ARC Ref Phono 2SE, ARC Ref6 preamp and a D'Agostino Classic Stereo.  Truly fantastic combination, and the Sasha's sound wonderful with that.

BUT - I have a small setup in my home office with a Cary CAD300SEI integrated amp.  This is an all tube SET integrated (Single Ended Triode, if you're unfamiliar with tube amps) based on the 300B tube.  SET amps are pretty magical for those that appreciate what they offer, which is an absolutely glorious midrange.  I had some buddies over, and decided to hook the Cary up to the Sashas.  All 15 watts of it!  Yes, the Sasha's have a pretty challenging load (4 Ohm nominal with a dip to 2.17 Ohms at 90 Hz), though they're pretty sensitive (92 dB).  I have to say, the Cary/Sasha combination sounded fantastic as well.  In my particular setup (that is, a very lively room with hardwood floors and no treatments beyond rugs, upholstered furniture and drapes over windows) neither I nor my friends felt anything was lacking in terms of available dynamic range, and that midrange magic was still there.

To me the bottom line is to listen to as many combinations as you can.  There are a LOT of great choices out there, and you should give as many of them a try as you can.  Take your time and enjoy the process (I rather miss the large amount of time I spent in dealer showrooms listening to different combinations of gear).

I'd also agree with the advice to not worry about a preamp or integrated amp with an on board phono preamp.  For your setup, if you're serious about vinyl you'll eventually want a dedicated phono preamp.  If you're just starting out there are a lot of good phono preamps for under $2K - or even under $1K you could get just to get started and upgrade later.

How about a Don Sachs DS2 pre, with a whole slew of eligible amps?

You are living one of my audiophile fantasies, here's what I would do.  First make sure you have basics covered - decent cabling, power conditioning, room treatment - if you're starting from scratch this could be $1000-$2000, but all must dos to get the most out of your kit.  Next, and again this is me, I'd get a Schiit Freya (<$1000), to be able to have an ok pre and be able to compare tubes vs ss in this stage with everything you'll be trying next.  Now you've got $3-5000 left and the fun begins - start cycling through amps.  If you're close to a solid dealer demos might be an option, Music Direct and others have 60 day 100% customer satisfaction guarantees, and then there's the whole used market.  All require some work and cost (shipping for example) but you can try out several incredible amps in your room over the course of a a few months or more.  By the time find the amp of your dreams, you'll be ready to reconsider the PRE or maybe add the analog source, or maybe you'll get tweaky with cables or isolation or tube rolling.  Tons of good suggestions on amps above, I would +1 BAT, I've heard Wilsons with BAT and they sound splendid.

It seems like several of ARC's components match well with Wilson's. 

I really like the way my Wilsons sound using Atma-Sphere MA-1 mono blocks which I found used, in your price range. I have also heard Wilsons powered by ARC Ref 150 and that also was a great match.

I do not own Sashas so if you do decide to look at used Atma-Sphere amps I would contact Ralph directly ((651) 690-2246) to get his opinion concerning the possible impedance issue. He will have a solution if there needs to be one.

I also agree with an earlier poster that said almarg and atmasphere are very good resources on these boards.

All three would be good choices.  Wilsons are extremely revealing of upstream components, so I would try several if possible.  

It seems nobody has anything negative to say about PS Audio, Audio Research and Pass Labs could be a good place to start.  

I second asking Johnny at Audioconnection. He knows just about everything out there, even if he doesn't sell it. And, he won't denigrate it, either. He'll give you an honest answer even if he won't make a dime.
One of the best...
Bob

Good to hear that you did whats absolutely right. Started with the speakers. I would be careful spending a lot of pre/amps to begin with. Buy some cheap and good class D like XTZ Egde. Then you have power enough. See how you like it. Don’t need a pre to the Vault. The next is your room. Adding a professional room correction unit would make wonders to your overall sound. And will also educate you in sound/listening. No speaker presents a correct frequency curve in a normal listening room. 

I have not heard a set of Wilsons like you have before - but I’ve heard from associates on other forums that the’re awfully nice / revealing.

It sounds like you already have some pretty decent sources, and the Power Amp that you have could be better, but it’s no slouch either.

If I were being "semi-practical" - looking for high quality, but VALUE = I would be looking at some of the BHK Signature products from PS Audio (Hybrid Tube / Solid State - taking advantage of the properties of both in a "synergistic" combination) Maybe start with the Pre and upgrade to a nice pre-owned set of monoblocks to replace the Rotel Amp later.

Another two decent brands to try for Pre-Amps (Line-Stage) would be Audio Research and SimAudio Moon -
I have heard a local high-end dealer’s demo system - with Vandersteen Model 7 speakers being driven via Audio Research Reference tube components and other goodies. (That was a system in excess of $100,000 retail) The imaging and black levels were almost "spooky" - but for that kind of moolah, they SHOULD be!
The solid middle-of-the-road Audio Research stuff or older, refurbed Reference stuff might be attainable

But with a system like yours and the amount of your budget - I would certainly:
-Audition a few units, to see what sounds best with the rest of your Sys
-Only buy from places with a good Return Policy, so that if you don’t like the way it sounds, you can return it for a (at least nearly) full refund.
-Find a forum with other Wilson Speaker owners, and see what has worked for THEM.

If you want to keep the system "sleek" = minimize the number of boxes to be interconnected, I have it from a reliable source that I trust (a different local HiFi dealer who carries a wide range of price options) that the Hegel integrateds are awfully nice.

@davekay

I would start with amps first. 2 large mono blocks and 2 mono block tubes. Once you have your base , go for a preamp that best suits your needs. A cherry on top sort of speak.

He only wants to spend $5K-$7K.  It seems that a used integrated would be the way to check all his boxes and find something worthy of those Wilsons.

Hear the Wilson and Audio research and is good combination (tube amp).
also fans of Pass labs (solid state)
If space allow go separate for amp and pre .
Cheers 

I agree with the others that your speakers are not reaching there full potential with your current amplification. There are many good choices with different benefits. I have in general found separate amps and preamps superior. MacIntosh  offers high reliability, long tern serviceability, and good resale value. However I have not found their audio performance a good value. The suggestion to try a local dealer is likely to provide a lot of good choices

Preamp.

You might try contacting Wilson and ask them what amps they use at shows to demo their speakers, where they'd be wanting to make a good impression. Not knowing enough to choose an amp for my Magico A3's,  I contacted a VP there and found out they were demoing these speakers at shows with Luxman 509 amps. So I figured I couldn't go too wrong with a Luxman even though I could only afford the 507 model, one step down. Did the same with the speaker cables.

The Magico company's president had recommended a Hegel integrated amp for the A3's in articles I'd read, which I'd also seriously considered. But Hegels being manufactured in China, where quality control is such an endemic issue, was too big a chance to take on a big purchase. 

Mike

Replace the Yamaha and Rotel , for a Hegel poweramp, and even pre-amp. No McInt. Also a good option is a tube preamp.: Audio Note, Ear ,..
Also a very good match is GamuT and /or Gato.
Do you want an “American”: best option is Jeff Rowland. All those thinks gives a good sound with your Dac and speakers. For me the best matches. Try them first and  , make a choice.
Enjoy your music!!

An ARC integrated would work nicely in that budget I think.

Do a search for the Audiogon subject below: someone just spoke about the Belles integrated the other day. I had Belles pre and amp years ago. It was well ahead of its time and at VERY reasonable cost!
<BELLES 250i INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER>
Bent

I would start with amps first. 2 large mono blocks and 2 mono block tubes. Once you have your base , go for a preamp that best suits your needs. A cherry on top sort of speak. 

Thanks again yes this is a journey. Need to narrow this down and maybe post with a couple caparisons.

I'm not sure tubes would be the best match with those Wilsons.  Perhaps I'm looking at the wrong specs but I think they dip all the way down to 1.9ohms.  I would think a used Ayre SS integrated may be a nice way to stay in your budget and get some nice performance.  Try as many options as you can for sure for making a final purchase.

"Just in case anyone tries to sell you expensive cabling,.... "  I think he's saying for now, don't bother to get the nice cables.. Upgrade the components to closer match the Wilsons.. Then save some more and upgrade everything else down the road.. You can get some cheap cables with good design and live with it for now.. 

Just in case anyone tries to sell you expensive cabling, I suggest that you buy the cheapest cabling you can find.

Huh, that's interesting.  I have found that cabling is extremely important and just as significant as the electronics you pick.  You can make or break the system by what cabling you buy.

luxman with the best suggestion.. Get the Parasound JC2 with a pair JC1's.. They're both listed here on Agon right now and well within your budget.. Your Wilsons will thank you

Nob, I suggest that you listen to almarg. Since you seem to be new here, you may not know who is worth listening to. Almarg is one of them. Atmasphere is another.

Well nob, I think you did the absolutely right thing. To Hell with the nay-sayers!

Buy speakers first and then upgrade everything to that level. I bought Magnepan Tympani 1a's in 1973, because they were the absolute best to my ears. Paired them with solid state kit electronics, because that's all the money that was left over. Eventually upgraded to all ARC, over 5 years. What a journey! Great fun at every stage! Take your time!! Audition and enjoy!!!

Just in case anyone tries to sell you expensive cabling, I suggest that you buy the cheapest cabling you can find. I mean, real cheap. Like $50 a pair, max. Spend your money where everyone agrees that it counts - electronics, turntable, everywhere but cables.

After you've got your system where you want it, then and only then fine tune it with cables. Try out loaners in your system in your own sweet time. If something proves its worth, then by all means buy it. But cabling is a great way to spend much money for little benefit - the worst cost/benefit ratio in audio, IMO. YMMV

Good luck! Have fun!!

With respect to amplification Audio Research (tubes) and Pass (solid state) both seem to be popular pairings with Wilson speakers.

An interesting post in this thread:

Jmwick 12-30-2017
I have the Sasha 2 powered by the ARC Reference 75 SE which is more than adequate. Prior to my purchase I did a fair amount of research, and on two sites it was reported that Wilson used the Ref 75 to voice the Sasha 2 s.
My dealer had the Sashas setup in the  showroom with the Ref 75 SE for demo purposes and he knows his stuff owning the same store since 1977. He did hook them up with the Ayre mono blocks which also sounded quite good ( a lot more money ), but to my ears I preferred the ARC.
My listening room is 21x15.

There are presently three used Audio Research Ref 75 (non-SE) power amplifiers listed for sale here, for less than $5K, and for less than $4K in one of those cases. Note though that the ARC Reference series amps provide only balanced inputs, and will not work properly if provided with single-ended inputs via RCA-to-XLR adapters.

Regarding phono stages, personally I would not let the inclusion of a phono stage be a factor in selection of a preamp or integrated amp. It would most likely be best to add a separate phono stage at a later date, such as the superlative Herron that was mentioned.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Here's a thought to get you started that won't cost a thing.  Read Roger Sanders white paper on tubes vs. Transistors.  You might find this helpful. You can track I this down on his website; Sanders sound systems. 

Consider the number of sources you will be using.  If you get a good DAC with a volume control you can skip the separate preamp and use it with your existing amplifiers for a while.  Something like a benchmark dac3 hgc is what I'm thinking about. 

Take your time.  Don't be in a hurry.  Enjoy the music and the journey. 

I should add that you may want to give the Benchmark AHB2 amp a demo (30 day free home trial). It is small, light, $3K, and sounds great. Supposedly the quietest amp you can buy. I am buying this amp again (sold it) as a backup and to use in the summer. My room is hot with computer equipment.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/collections/amp/products/benchmark-ahb2-power-amplifier

I don’t think you need to spend a ton to get you up the ladder in sound quality with those Wilsons.

I am not a tube guy but recently I heard a Line Magnetic integrated that is supposed to be a new release and costing $5K. It was driving a Wilson speaker costing $16K (I forgot the name). It sounded pretty good and the 2 other tube guys (long time audiophiles) in the room were raving about it. I preferred the sound of a Luxman 509x integrated with another speaker but I am not crazy about tubes.

You may want to give MIke a call from the link below and ask him for some Wilson advice. That is where I heard the Line Magnetic.
https://www.excelaudio.us/

https://line-magnetic.eu/en/products-line-magnetic-en/integrated-tube-amplifier-line-magnetic-en

BTW - I have a preamp and amp I want to get that cost $15K each. A little rich for my wallet so I am going to first try the Benchmark LA4 preamp ($2500) with the $15K amp. I think it will work and there is a 30 day free home trial. Not sure if you will like that preamp with your Rotel. This pre is supposed to not add any flavor to the sound.

https://benchmarkmedia.com/collections/preamplifiers

Sorry about the trolling comment but people do come on here asking crazy stuff just to get us going then you never hear from them again.

Yours was like that because as you can tell from others comments it makes absolutely no sense the way you've got such high end speakers and such budget everything else- and not even good budget than that, you just can't do worse than a receiver.

Buying a pre-amp you then need amps. And interconnects. And power cords. Done right you can wind up with something quite good. For two or three times as much as an integrated that would sound just as good. If not better.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

If you're in New Jersey get to AudioConnection ...if not give them a call.  They are experts and will not lead you in the wrong direction. They will be mindful of your budget, and your taste in music. They will not pressure you.  You will certainly benefit from the experience.

I got the Wilson's to replace my old speakers thinking get quality speakers and build around the speakers.  My thinking is 1st replace the Yamaha with a good pre amp then work on the amp.    

nobnewob OP

Can’t believe someone sold you those electronics to drive the Wilsons with.
Keep the Wilson’s and Hegel DAC and a Bluesound Vault 2i streamer.

Get a Gryphon Diablo Integrated 300 or 120 whatever you can afford 300 preferably, to make those Wilsons sing like you’ve never heard yet.
https://gryphon-audio.dk/produkt-kategori/integrated-amplifiers/

Cheers George

Thanks so much for the suggestions keep them coming so I can narrow my research down.   PS I didn't want to start an audio war.