Help me spend $100,000 on a new system

Mike, here's what I would do if I started over in my space with all I learned over the last few years and knowing the impact it had in my room (and in my opinion that's a huge variable for your new space)

Turntable - I have a Rega P8 at the $100k system I'd go for the Rega P10 or their new Rega Naia.  I'd get the Rega Aura Phono stage.  I'd go this route because it's a good value and hard for me to screw up.  (PS: I'd also get an Audio Desk record cleaner)

Preamp/Amp I'd go tubes with ARC 6SE and 160S.   I do prefer the simplicity of solid state so I'd be more likely to go with Moon's new 891 and 861.  Note this would introduce digital to the system .  (If that's a no go I'd go Boulder)

Speakers - I'd go for the Sonus Faber Amanti G5

I'd also spend money on Isolation (HRS SXR), interconnects I like Kimber Kable and have been impressed with Nordost) and power management with Shunyata. 

The funds remaining would be on some room treatments and good glassware to drink beer and whiskey while I listen to tunes.

One word...horn.

We are born, play abit, and we die, can’t take it with us. If I were you I’d get the JBL Everest 67000. You can even use whatever upstream equipment you have for awhile to figure out next step. If 80k on speakers are abit over the top, try their K2 then. Still beryllium compression drivers.

Everyone like different sound, sure. But I’d wager that , all of us audio lovers, if given an option of whether we like our system to sound as close to the real live events we are listening, we’d mark that checkbox.

Dynamism is the key to sounding real. Horn+beryllium is one of the combo that’s closer to that than anything (to me).

He doesn't want to deal with tubes. Another point, after choosing speakers, is whether to go with integrated or separates. Boulder 866 is about $16k, I think, and Gryphon Diablo 333 about $25k without optional dac and phono stage. DartZeel is probably even more expensive and D'Agostino Momentum would be out of reach. Some mentioned Audionet. Accuphase is about $25k, I guess, for both class A and top class AB integrated. What else..? Nagra, Soulution, Vitus. Quite a choice.

I don’t have any experience with tubes so probably will stick with SS.

Oops!  I missed this when you posted it.

I think you ought to just maybe give them a listen before you rule them out.  They really are not all that complicated and with the disposable funds you are talking about you could do yourself right in the tubular regards. And who knows?  You are seem to be looking for a change from what you are listening to presently (as good as I bet it sounds!), and a real top notch tube system might be the change you are looking for.

Not to mention when I carried my heavy Luxman amp and Magico A3’s up a flight of stairs to my listening room a couple years ago it was a near death experience.

@skyscraper 

With spinal generation my heavy lifting days are over. I’m now fighting to keep mobile so me and my wife can travel upon her retirement. Arrange for others to do the heavy lifting.

The Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene sounds great - a good choice to demo as I heard them on several occasions. At the time, they were above my price point. Last year at AXPONA I narrowed my search to the Magico A5 or the Rockport Atria. In show conditions (poor hotel room conditions often make speakers sound way below their potential) the A5 sounded clearer on the top while the Atria sounded whole but recessed. After the show, I spoke with my dealer and mentioned I loved the sound of the demo Vimberg Mino D, but it was out of my price range as the “D” was the diamond tweeter upgrade at $10k+. I love high notes (violin, bells)so my dealer negotiated the price down while I “conveniently” increased my budget so now I own them. If possible, maybe check out Vimberg as well - very positive reviews, it’s the Toyota while their sister/parent company Tidal speakers are like Lexus. Like Magico, it’s a Herculean effort to eliminate cabinet resonances