Pls advise on budget integrated or pre/power comb.

If your system is too bright you may want to work with your room acoustics and speaker/listener position. It's not something that is going to be fixed with wire most likely. This will work two fold in your benefit as your room acoustics have a major affect on the sound. You have a good amp and speakers. Read at realtraps.com or rivesaudio.com and you'll be glad you did. I suspect alot of people change gear only to end up with another problem when all along it was the acoustics in their room. Cheers

Jolida JD 801A tube integrated, 70 watts. One heck of an amp. The brightness is more likely the Rotel and/or the Marantz than the room, and at nearly 92 dB efficiency, your speakers don't need big power.

I'm curious about the Jolida I have dealer in the area. I will be checking realtraps.com & rivesaudio.com too. I've read some good things about the older Plinius models. But I'm still leaning towards the Audio Refinement I'll keep it on my short list. Thanks !!!

I would change IC's and speaker wires first. Also power cords. If that doesn't do the trick, you might consider new spks. which are more warmer and better suited to your tastes. Or, work around your spks. and get new electronics.
Hope things work out! Good Luck.

I owned both the Audio Refinement Complete integrated and the Audio Refinement Complete Alpha CD player a while ago. When I sold the amp reget was immediate. It had a very smooth sound and was a joy to use; a real quality product. The cd player however never excited me. Not sure how it would stack up against the bigger Rotel. Good luck.