Integrateds: $3K, $4.5K or $5K

Thanks for the excellent advice coming through. Some of the recommendations are hard to find in my area, so that's a limiting factor, but all comments are much appreciated.
As one post noted, it may make most sense to first settle on the speakers and go from there. The only ussue with that is choosing speakers as I hear them through electronics that I most likely will not have, so it's kind of a catch 22, but I guess you have to establish a given at some point and I think speakers are the most variable component in the chain.

I would also say that Ayre and Hegel are two of the BEST integrateds right now as both go with every speaker I've auditioned over the last 7 months as I redo my whole system. Good to hear others liking their gear.

Thanks for the recommendations on the Hegel and Ayre. The Ayre AX5 looks great but at $10k is out of my price range.
I'm looking into the Hegel H300, but may be hard to find a dealer in my area.
I've also arranged to home audition the Musical Fidelity m6500i (500 wpc, $7K)
Would appreciate any comments, comparison to the Hegel.

I have the Ayre 7xe....it's plenty powerful for all the speakers I've heard it with. That includes Focal, Vandy, B&W, Legacy, Dynaudio, Paradigm and many others. You should check it out if you can. I personally feel the Ayre is the most natural/tube like. Very strong throughout the whole band. The MF isn't my cup of tea, but you may like it. Powerhouse for sure, but lacking some of the finess that I hear in the Ayre and the Hegel. I have now heard the Hegel in two systems and it sounded very different. Don't know why, but it did. That's why I am now driving hours each way to NJ from CT as I trust John at Audio Connections in Verona, NJ. I know he sells around the country. You may want to give him a shout as he also sells Rogue and AR in addition to Rega, Music Hall, NAD and Ayre. He knows what goes and what doesn't. He also sells a ton of used gear and much of it is newer and in great shape. If you have another vendor who has been around a long time, use them, but I'd deal with a store owner as they won't play games with you most of the time. If you find one who does, please let us all know, lol.

I have owned Joseph 25 and 7 speakers for years and gave heard them with many different amps, including Musical Fidelity, Jolida, Gamut, Shindo, Cary, Canary and quite a few others.
For my money, if I were only going integrated route in your price range, I would look for a used Electrocompaniet ECI-3. It would work magic with the Pulsars.