8-10k budget suggestions please

@laaudionut man youre a great writer. I do agree with you. I too have been on that McMarrygoround and I agree… Mcintosh is syrupy flat and somehow bright all at the same time… but they sure are pretty. That being said maybe CODA would work nicely for him? The integrated is in the price range and you can get it biased in class A up to 20 watts and a/b up until 200 i think? Or maybe a used pass labs Int-60?

B+W 804's are efficient enough to use well with tube amplifiers.  I have Naim, solid state, Vincent pre / power, hybrid and Cayin tube amps. Naim is used for TV, Vincent is in my workshop, the Cayin gets played 3 hours a day. 

IMO, the combo of B&W + Krell will leave you with bleeding ears.

 I am in the sell the B&W’s camp, get Tekton Double Impacts, Schiit Yggdrasil, Freya+, a pair of Aegirs and a used Innuos Zen MkIII.

You’ll have wonderful SQ and stay within budget.

the combo of B&W + Krell will leave you with bleeding ears

i would have to agree... this was also my reaction... but we all hear differently, and perhaps the op has an uber smooth sounding source ....

Ok you can get separated for this amount of money.

I WOULD get a Holo Serene preamp…It is the best preamp for 3200 bucks in the world.

Then I would get a belles audio signature amplifier from John Rutan for like 5k.

DAC would be Holo Spring 3 KTE.

john Is at Audio Connect and sells B&W and knows their synergy.

your cables are probably trash too get DH labs 10 gauge speaker cables.