Sounds to me that we share a common aesthetic for sound. I own a Koetsu Rosewood Signature which has a very musical character. I owned a Sonic Frontiers tubed CD player for many years and use a great tube amp. You can see my current system under my ID. I definitely recommend listening very carefully… or looking if listening is not possible to the Audio Research REF5SE. I had one for many years and loved it. I upgraded to the REF6SE, not because I felt I needed to, but I was upgraded my amp and DAC… and it just seemed appropriate.
One thing I really noticed was the synergy I got between ARC equipment… each additional piece got more than the individual piece would have predicted… while this may or may not be technically true, this is my way of looking at all ARC synergy. To a lessor extent you get this with all tube gear.
Assume three components made by different companies. The first a tad weak in the treble, the second a bit lean in the midrange, and the third a bit weak in the bass. String them together… you get subtraction… once lost, some of the signal cannot be regenerated. Overly simplified, but this is the way I think about choosing a system… any component of different character and you loose… cables also.
When I put in the final piece of my All ARC system… well, it was one of those jaw dropping moments.
it would be great to see your system. Sounds like a great one.