Yes, another audiophile at a crossroads story and request for advice

@ezstreams I have an alternative option for you, it is fully in keeping with what you have made known in the OP.

You are approaching a period of your life where you have additional time to spend experiencing your HiFi Set Up.

You also have a Budget to swap out some of the ancillaries used in your System and create a sound that is seemingly more to your satisfaction.

With the above two points in mind, there are Pro's and Con's, I will make my thoughts known on these.

Pro's

1, Time available is now your friend, put a request out to meet up with local to yourself audio enthusiasts, the lessons that can be learned from experiencing other systems and friendships that can form are extremely valuable.

2, In my own HiFi Group (made up mainly of a group of 10 retired and semi-retired members, where a monthly meet is usually the minimum) there are members systems that have evolved as a result of attending these meet ups. Where their choices have been structured around the good impressions made from listening to other members systems and having discovered alternative ancillaries worthy of consideration. Your ideal ancillary could prove to be a item available as a used purchase and save outlaying extra $0000's. 

3, Creating a Shortlist and visiting commercial suppliers with a demonstration facility to enable a ancillary of interest to be experienced is another option to be used with the additional time available.

Con's

1, Buying with only a visual of a product as the introduction is a fast route to a purchase that does not content the end user.

2, Buying from recommendation only is no different from buying with a visual of a product.

3, Not Selecting Products for a further investigation, using the above methods and others for the purpose of producing a Shortlist is the way that is the least sure footed, and can easily be a wasteful use of ones hard earned.

4,  Any purchases being made do inquire about the aftersales support, Warranty Periods, etc. In the US there are regions that have very little requirement to support such aftersales services. 

Get a hearing test first. Then if your hearing is impaired, as you had suggested, get the best heard aids you can afford. Even Costco has great deals. I have Resound brand and it’s the best investment I have made in my audio system and to a very large extent... my day to day life. There are audiophiles here who don’t agree, but why does anyone get glasses when one could just get by with poor eyesight??? Does not make sense. You might be surprised, your system might sound better than you thought. Just my two cents...

ezstreams

Excellent advice and pointers as above. Good to read that your CD Player is the center piece of your system. Consider a Cabling or Tube upgrade. Keep me posted on your Journey.

Happy Listening!

Why don’t you start by having your speakers upgraded to the graphene model? Take some time with the upgraded speakers and then decide if you need any more changes.

@pindac Thank you for that thoughtful advice.  Frustratingly, I live in a city that has the 2nd highest post graduate degreed percent of population in the US with a huge technology business base. In my 41 years living here, ive only found 1 other audiophile and he owned a hi-end audio store here that only stayed in business for ~10 years and went out of business 20 years ago. Surely they are here somewhere. I wonder if i posted a “Are you an audiophile in Huntsville AL?” here on Audiogon, i might find a few?  I’ll try that. 
Nearest hifi shops are 2 hrs (Nashville0 and 3 hrs (Atlanta) away. I’ve taken many trips to a shop in Nashville and purchased equipment but their selection is limited and they haven’t gotten into digital yet. 

@2psyop I’ve actually started having my hearing test each year now and was told again this year that im still not in the range needing aid. That said, i failed to mention in my OP, that I do “suffer” from continuous high frequency tinnitus which is a pain in the a__ whenever i‘m conscious of it. I’m sure that affects my “music hearing fidelity” in some way. 

i really think i want to simplify my system in preparation for retirement. Eliminate tube power so go with a hybrid or solid state 1 box integrated with a great dac and streamer, that would be perfect!  Next to perfect would be an integrated plus a great Roon compatible one box dac/streamer. Any suggestions would be most welcome.