AMP or Preamp

Thought I'd share my experience, as I upgraded a few months ago from Wilson Sabrina to a used pair of Sasha 2.  I've been driving them with an ARC Ref Phono 2SE, ARC Ref6 preamp and a D'Agostino Classic Stereo.  Truly fantastic combination, and the Sasha's sound wonderful with that.

BUT - I have a small setup in my home office with a Cary CAD300SEI integrated amp.  This is an all tube SET integrated (Single Ended Triode, if you're unfamiliar with tube amps) based on the 300B tube.  SET amps are pretty magical for those that appreciate what they offer, which is an absolutely glorious midrange.  I had some buddies over, and decided to hook the Cary up to the Sashas.  All 15 watts of it!  Yes, the Sasha's have a pretty challenging load (4 Ohm nominal with a dip to 2.17 Ohms at 90 Hz), though they're pretty sensitive (92 dB).  I have to say, the Cary/Sasha combination sounded fantastic as well.  In my particular setup (that is, a very lively room with hardwood floors and no treatments beyond rugs, upholstered furniture and drapes over windows) neither I nor my friends felt anything was lacking in terms of available dynamic range, and that midrange magic was still there.

To me the bottom line is to listen to as many combinations as you can.  There are a LOT of great choices out there, and you should give as many of them a try as you can.  Take your time and enjoy the process (I rather miss the large amount of time I spent in dealer showrooms listening to different combinations of gear).

I'd also agree with the advice to not worry about a preamp or integrated amp with an on board phono preamp.  For your setup, if you're serious about vinyl you'll eventually want a dedicated phono preamp.  If you're just starting out there are a lot of good phono preamps for under $2K - or even under $1K you could get just to get started and upgrade later.

Anyone critical of the current mismatch between speakers and amps forgets that standard audiophile advice is to max out on quality of speakers first and then work on what’s up the chain. OP did this and is asking the next step. Bravo!

I would suggest that the best advice would not include a focus on a specific model or brand yet. With a limited budget (even though $5k isn’t chicken feed) I suggest that used gear is the way to maximize the value you get, and the best way to try different combinations of gear is to buy used and listen to them for extended periods; keep what you like and resell/replace what you don’t. To do this, you need to establish a range of brands and models that you're interested in, and be flexible about what used stuff is available at good prices.  

So that’s a perpetual journey or at least years. But it’s fun. Buy good quality gear from here, from good dealers, and even ebay and Craigslist (I’ve had plenty of success on both). A modest percentage of your budget (say, 10%-20%) will be in losses in buying and reselling gear, but that will easily be balanced by the tremendous value you get in buying used gear.

Look for brands like McIntosh (rarely a bargain though); Levinson, Krell, Classe, Pass, the others commonly mentioned here.

I’d focus on separates for now because ultimately that is likely to sound best, but also because you can test variables more easily with separates than an integrated. On cables I just would avoid the $5 kind for now. Until you settle on gear that you’re going to keep a long time, you might find more cable mismatches than matches.

With a limited budget, I’d stay with solid state. Tubes are great but they can be expensive and tube gear fussy. And if you are swapping through gear looking for the best combos for those fine speakers, you won’t want to have spent big$$ on tubes that you can’t use when you change gear.

Good luck! This is part of the fun of the hobby; don’t look at it like a leap and a stop...look at it as a series of fun Saturdays!

Don’t let anyone criticize you over your current components. Your receiver is certainly your weak spot and although there is nothing wrong with a Rotel amp, I have to believe the Wilsons would reward you for giving them better power. 

Several people have mentioned Pass, which would probably work well. If you like solid state, the Plinius or SimAudio are reasonably price brand to consider. Sim is a little darker while Plinius has a more tube like character. 

If you like the tube sound then then you may consider Audio Research. Wilson dealers often pair them together and it does sound very nice. AR is hybrid so they can better handle the challenging impedance curve and power requirements of Wilson better than full tube. 

I would seriously consider an integrated. Although separate amp/preamp would be ideal, you will pay more for the components plus you will need cables which adds to the cost. Improving components without using proper cables is somewhat of a waste. An integrated removes the need for the extra cables, so you can spend a little more on a better integrated and put some money towards power and speaker cables. 

Enjoy the journey and have fun!

check out the Aesthetix Mimas intergrated amp hybrid can add DAC Phono or high pass   
Great components 
and I second  Audio Connetion great bunch of guy and sell AESTHETIX

McIntosh C47 pre
McIntosh MC-312

ENJOY!!!