Upgrade bug - advice on amp or preamp upgrade from Ayre for Revel speakers?


Hi all, looking to tap in to the collective experience of the forums.  My system has evolved nicely over the years.  Most recently I changed out my Thiel CS2.4s for Revel Ultima Studio2s. I’ve had them in place for about 9 months and am enjoying the heck out of them. The rest of my system is comprised of a Linn Akurate DS into Ayre K-5xe into Ayre V-5xe.  Transparent Audio balanced interconnects and power cords.  My musical preferences are primarily informed by my background as a musician (jazz) - I love live, palbable, feeling sound.  I love the wood of a bass, the way a kick drum can either pop you in the chest (ala Tony Williams) or convey subtle timbre changes (Jack DeJohnette). I love the splat of a great trumpeter (Tom Harrell, Woody Shaw...) and the thrill of colors a tenor sax can provide (Brecker, Trane, Berg...).  As a pianist, I am keenly focused on accurate reproduction that is nuanced enough to let me hear the very different touches of my favorite players (Mulgrew Miller, Kenny Barron, David Kikoski...). And I find music most gratifying when rooted by a firm and true to live conveyance of bass.  

My my current system conveys much of what I love, but of late I’m wondering if a more powerful amp might provide “more”.  I don’t need more volume, but if I had one nagging suspicion it’s that the Ayre combination doesn’t grip the bottom end as much as it could and at times appears a tad bit lean sounding.  Alternatively, could it be a preamp solution?  I demoed BAT about ten years ago while there was still a dealer in my area.  At the time I sort of fell in love with the sound, but ultimately felt Ayre was a better path at the time.  I could probably extend $5 to $7k at this time.  A few thoughts would be:  Amps (Pass 250.8, Levinson 532h, BAT VK-600, Classe CA M600, Bel Canto Ref600, others?).  If Preamp is the right way to go (BAT 32se or 42, ARC, Levinson 326s, others). Or am I crazy and should I stick with what I have and be appropriately grateful?

I really appreciate any thoughts or suggestions from those with relevant experience.
miles_trane
Ayre VX 5 Twenty.  A step up from your current amp.  Recently added it to my Thiel 2.4s.  I was considering new speakers, now I’m just listening more to an entirely improved sound.
Yeah, musician here too.  Nothing like when a system can recreate nuance, intent, subtle tonal shadings, etc., especially with jazz.  If I'm you, my first move is to try a class-A biased SS amp (Pass, Plinius, Clayton, etc.).  My experience is that they do very well at conveying subtleties and emotion but can also pack that wallop you're looking for when called for.  Pair that with a good tubed pre like VAC or Sachs SP14 (both reputed to do well with bass) and I'd think you'd be in hog heaven.  Best of luck. 
The Ayre Twenty series seems to have corrected what many thought to be 'bass shy' characteristics of older models.
My second choice would be to change out the Transparent cables for something like Audioquest.

B
Thanks all for the helpful comments and suggestions!

Jafant - the Thiels were my first investment, and I listened to dozens of amps and preamps before selecting the Ayre line. The combination did a ton really well.  Imaging and PRAT were particularly good.  The system was a bit lean in the lower end, and at times a smidge rough in high frequencies, but those were minor qualms compared to all they did right. 

Init -I am not familiar with the Vincent gear but will definitely check it out.  Thanks for your perseverance!

Good suggestions on upgrading the Ayre line as well.  This is a total aside, but anyone have insight into the future of Ayre post Charles?  I still grimace when I think of what happened to Thiel after Jim passed...

Soix - one of the things I’m toying with is picking up an Arc REF3 as a first step, then replenishing the war chest for an amp purchase next year.  I will try to check out VAC (which I know is very highly regarded) and Sachs (which is new to me!). 

Thanks again!!
If you are looking for wallop, the ARCs pres are not the best at playing bass, especially on a solid state amp IMO/IME.

The Ayre is one of the better solid state amps out there; if you plan to continue with solid state, I'd hang on to it. If it were me, I'd be looking into a speaker that is more efficient and easier to drive, for no other reason than it does not make sense to make any amplifier work hard for a living as they will make more distortion, and that means it will be less musical.