Reclaim sound from the past?

It sounds like you had that experience when equipment and room all became unified into your own personal magic.

That's what makes this hobby so beautiful, yet so frustrating.

Neither.Not a gear thing.Its a you/human thing.Happened to me too just like you say.One of those fleeting magic moments that come along very infrequently it seems.YMMV,cheers,Bob

I would not hesitate to sell everything and buy again on the Audiogon these old things. Witts are fine speakers and maybe they had a good synergy with cjs. I could imagine that they corrected each others shortcomings well to get a good balanced sound.

The formula of trouble-shooting your system/room, is to change one variable at a time. By process of elimination, can figure out what is doing what - and that included acoustical treatments.
I would suggest working with what you have, and making sure tha the acoustics are right, first. Larger spaces may be easier to get sounding good, long wall setup's, etc, rather than smaller spaces. If so, you might need some acoustic treatments to come into play. Then, once you know your acoustics and setup are secure and balanced properly, you can start swapping out gear.
On that note, I would start with cheap fixes like cabling. Then I'd adress preamp and amp combo's. The speakers are a large change, and will likely have the most dramatic impact on sound. But then, you do already have those, and need to set the room up around them first. So, I'd likely change those last, if I couldn't get the sound I wanted after doing the following, first:
Acoustics check, setup check, speaker wires and cables check, tweaks check, preamp check, amp check, then speakers as a last ditch.
Of course, you could just start with another pair of speakers, but sounds like that might not be your biggest issue. Probably acoustics, setup and system matching.
good luck

Probably the speakers...amps...and the room. The good news is unless the room has real problems you can get close or better. I think the amplifier can make so much difference..but I think you experienced a synergy. The speakers are next....I'm lucky as I have had the same for 28 years. Moved 3 times...big rooms and now I have a condo...but the sound is as good or better. What's changed not the speakers....but I have had 6 different amps. So I would maybe look at different speakers(wilsons) first and go from there. Btw I think you describe a combination of really coherent speakers and a great tube amp. But I get the same qualities with my SS amp and my tube amps..they both have one thing in common...great design and quality componets.

Thanks all for your feedback...the best sound I have gotten from the Salons was when the front end and amps have been in the Levinson family. I was amazed at how much better the Proceed AMP 5 sounded than the Pass 600s it didn't make sense from a dollar standpoint. There is something to be said for keeping all the components from the same company. Looks like I may go back to a set of Wilson's first. Then some CJ amps however I understand that the new amps sound different than the older 8s,11s,and 12s.

I bet on the CJ amps. I previously ran CJ MV-55 with Alons, magical vocals and fantastic imaging. I've yet to match the sweet, burnished glow of those vocals in any subsequent systems. Still, I don't have any regrets in changing out that system, as every other parameter of sonic performance has improved in my present system. Older CJ gear had a warmth and/or golden hue that can be intoxicating.

I also still run that CJ MV-55 with single driver speakers in a bedroom system, magical vocals in that system as well.

Ok, then change out your Revels for the Wilsons ONLY. Then, keeping your existing equipment in place, you can compare to see if it's the speakers that are or are not doing what you need!
At that point, I would still see if your Wilson's are sounding good or not. If not, then you can assume it's a setup/acoustics, or associated equip problem, obviously.
I'd still start removing or fixing one variable at a time to see what changes. Otherwise you're never going to know what's doing what, and the complete formula you're working with.