Getting into audio for around 3500$...problems...

I'd push for analogue. Less investment for Greater sound even with your current amp/speakers. You could get phono with volume control and play your digital stuff through the receiver in the bedroom. That is basically what I've done.

I wouldn't smoke crack since it's like lo-fi compared to the good coke or weed and other more pricey substances so Marty is wrong as this habbit can get extreamly expencive especially when every buck getting right into the brains on freequent consumption bases with following later-on consequences(if ones will ever take place during one's life)...

I'm wondering if perhaps I've over-budgeted for amp/preamp then
adding on a preamp that meets my needs will probably be in the 1200-1300$ range bringing the amp/pre total to about 2600$ while my speakers were only 1200$

would I be better off selling the amp and picking up a used integrated in the 750-1300$ ballpark and saving up for a few months and making the jump to one of the less power hungry speakers from my list above? (ie not Aerial or Dyns!)

Well, where do i begin. The largest sound change i got from my system was when i upgraded my cd player to an audio aero capitole. Before this i never really thought cd players added that much to a system. So now one might think that cd players are the most important part etc ... really i know that if the level of my system wasnt already incredibly high, much higher than when i bought my amp or speakers than the difference would have been much smaller. If you were to upgrade to merlins and run it with the denon you might get better sound, probably actually, but its almost a waste of money as you could only realize their full potential through higher quality equipment. Amps and cd players do make a difference but i find that with lower end auxilliary equipment the differences would be masked. If you are considering buying the merlins or other higherend speakers and stopping your system probably will sound better but you are depriving your self of slowly maturing your system through small component changes. So to end this diatribe, if you intend to only spend 3500 on your system total the merlins wouldn't be a bad idea, but if you have aspirations to further upgrades than i would keep what you have and slowly upgrade your weakest link. In audio the whole is greater than the sum of the parts of your system.

In order, I would try:

1. Put some heavy duty power cords on everything. You should be able to order some from Directron.com or find them at an electronics shop. Just so long as they aren't those super thin, bottom barrel power cords.

2. Twine all of your power cords together and run them down one side of the rack. Run all your ic's down the other. Try to have at least 3" distance between any power cord.

2. Try rebiasing the Rogue amp. (if you can).

3. But some new tubes for the cal cd player.

4. Retube the Rogue. If your music is sounding a little lifeless without top end sparkle, it could be the power tubes. It should cost around $100 for 6550's or $120 for SVETLANA KT88's. Let the tubes burn in for 100 hours, and if you don't see an improvement take them out and keep them as spares. Power tubes last around 2000 hours.

5. Swap your speaker cable for a $300 8 foot acoustic zen satori speaker cable. Excellent cable, especially with tubes.

6. Retube the Rogue.

6. Try a few different ic's. For tube systems and not a fortune, I like the $150 retail Supra EFF-ISL ic's. Nordost red dawns are good with tube systems too.

7. Next I would try selling the CD player and buying a Sony XA7ES or a Resolution Audio CD-50 for $1000-1200. I know from experiance that the XA7ES direct driven sounds as good as with a preamp. I've never owned a RA CD-50 but I've heard them and think they have a wonderful analog output stage. Both of these players hold their value quite well.

8. If you still don't like what you hear, I would then try buying some virgo II's for $2500. Alternatively, the $2500 (new) JM-Reynaud Trente is a great transmission line monitor w/lots of bass and a pronounced midrange.

If you want to try a preamp, I would try a $750 Adcom 750 preamp. Those are nice because they can be passive or active. Usually a component with a tube output like the Cal will have lots of drive, so you can run the Adcom passively. If you want a tube preamp I would the the rogue, Audible Illusions Mod 3a, or a BAT vk-3i. My guess is that the passive Adcom would better all of them.

Disclaimer: I sell JM-Reynaud speakers and Supra cables

How big is your room? And what is like? Lots of windows? Carpets or bare walls?