Everything improves in incremental steps over time, but physics and marketing doesn’t really change much, so things aren’t vastly different IMO, other than that outboard phono stages and DACS are more plentiful than ever, and there are more digital options.
If you had a taste for tubes and high end speakers before, I’d suggest going with tubes again, and upping your speaker selection....even if you have to aim for smaller speakers to stay in budget and get the midrange/treble transparency right, then add a sub later on as needed. Not only have tubes been part of all the best systems I’ve heard over the years, but you can also roll different brands and types to fine tune the presentation exactly to your liking. That’s not saying I haven’t owned or heard SS electronics I’ve liked, but none that move me the way good tubes do on really transparent speakers.
As always, I’d be speaker shopping first for something you love. Vandersteens are still around and still very relavent. I think you can and will want better than Polk after what you previously owned. Good used speakers might a valid choice. Once that decision is made, find your power. Maybe a good integrated tube amp with a good outboard phono stage would fit the bill. Willsenton, Rogue, Primaluna, Nighthawk, Vincent hybrid, among others, are popular choices in that league these days.