Wife opened door to build my best ever system...ideas for what it should be?

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audio connection will definitely help you spend the money wisely and build a killer system suited to your tastes!!

My wife did something similar with me also a couple years ago. I live in Arizona where it is extremely hot in the summer and I had tube amps. The heat from tube amps is not an issue. The sound is just more musical in my mind.

As part of my research and journey and picking out a new audio system, we did travel together to visit many audio stores around the country. There are many in California especially Los Angeles where we got a lot of ideas. I also went to New Jersey and New York and listened to some great systems. Once you are done with your initial research, if there’s a way for you to come to California or the East Coast you really do need to listen to the systems yourself.

Given your budget I would recommend you include in your research looking at Raven audio out of Texas. They have many different types of integrated and mono tube amps, speakers, and cables. They also offer a 45 day money back guarantee. I would also call Dave Thomson from Raven and get his views on amplification and speakers. He is a super friendly guy and extremely knowledgeable.
If you were in New Jersey, I would give the audio doctor a call. He had a major health concern the spring but also can give you some valuable advice.

I can tell you it is a fun experience made even better by a wife who is also interested in me having the best sound possible. Good luck and have fun.

If you are keeping your speakers and this is all going to amplification: McIntosh 462 with matching tube or solid state preamp; or Luxman M900, Son of Ampzilla, Plinius Reference 150, or Belles Power Modules Virtuoso--any with matching preamp; or Gryphon 300 Integrated Amplifier. Coda 8 stereo amplifier and Boulder 866 Integrated Amplifiers have gotten good press recently.

God I love Hawaii!  I went there on my first honeymoon and a second vacation with my first wife and I still love the state.  Given it was with the first wife, that is saying a lot!

If it was me and you are thinking about consolidating down to one system, why not upgrade both?  Your room is about the size of most demo rooms at hotel shows like AXPONA and Capital Audiofest so if you can deliver great sound in a show, 

In a room that size you have a choice between a smallish floorstander or a great standmount with maybe a smallish subwoofer.  Given your current system, it sounds like you prefer a slightly forward sound profile.  

Given your taste and budget, there are a million options so getting things narrowed to what you like based on sound, looks and your concerns around energy consumption and additionally, how many pieces do you want?  Separates or an integrated?  

Really think through what you want and then it will be easier to map out a plan on how to get to it?  Especially in terms of sound.  

A few things I would look at through:

Linear Tube Audio - David Berning's ZOTL circuit is amazing and you in essence get a cool running tube amplifier.  These are brilliant, albeit lower power.  

Bob Carver equipment - This is also cool running tube gear.  Bob Carver found a circuit that used to be used in CRTs that he applied here.  These are much higher power.  

Rogue Audio -  Check out the Hydra and DragoN power amps.  These are Class D with a tube input stage.  I own a Hydra and it is a spectacular amp.  Also look at their RPX line of preamps.  An RP5 is wonderful with the Hydra and would also work well with a Bob Carver or LTA amp.  

Other class Ds, Gs and Hs - Wyred4Sound, NuPrime, Benchmark, Krell, etc....  There are a million of these products on the market these days and most are very good.  They will all run at similar temp or cooler than your current Class A/B gear.  A/B gear is wonderful and there are lots of choice.  

I would avoid Class A if heat is a concern.  75% of the energy that goes through a Class A amp burns off as heat so...

For speakers, there are 100s of brands and even more sub-brands that are on your budget and are amazing.  To narrow this, key is sound profile and looks.  I would take a look at B&W, Spendor, Focal, Revel, Scansonic/Raidho, Harbeth, Kef, Vandersteen, Wharfedale, Elac, Tekton, Zu, Magnepan, Martin Logan and Paradigm and let us know what you like and don't like aesthetically,  Once we know what you like in terms of looks and sound, it becomes easier to help zero in on products that are worth listening too. 

That is where I would start and reporting back on your thoughts can help narrow things.  

Full disclosure, I am a dealer and manufacturer of speakers that sells some of the brands listed above. 

I would start with the Swarm subwoofer system.

This will take care of the bass issues so you get proper bass at the listening position in almost any room, from about 75Hz and down to 20Hz.

This frees up the main speakers to not have to go down so deep, and that dramatically widens your choices. For example if you want to go tubes but are worried about heat, you can get a more efficient main speaker that does not require a lot of power and so your tube amps can be smaller. The beauty of this approach is it scales nicely in most rooms! If you decide you want some sort of planar speaker it will still work great; and no need to lose resolution or bandwidth relative to the most expensive speakers made; you won't have to take a back seat to any of those issues.