In case anyone is following, I'm still on the lookout for an upgrade to my Ara. I've kind of narrowed it down to a few. Qln Prestige, Totem Acoustics Element Fire V2, Dynaudio Heritage specials, and Dali Epicon 2. Currently the Totem is in the lead but I haven't heard any totem speakers before so it's based on just how many glowing reviews there are of that speaker.
My chain has changed a little. Upgraded to MK2 for the directstream and bought a benchmark LA4 for my preamp. I've also added some bass panels behind and an acoustic panel to the right for the first reflection. Basically my speakers are left unless I want to spend 2-3x more on the components.