System advice

OP:

I’ve been thinking about your original set up and what you were convinced to change to. Arcam and Monitor Audio are great, but extremely neutral. For many audiophiles they are too laid back and warm sounding. They crave the music to have some bite, extra emphasis in the upper midrange and/or treble. IMHO, B&W and McIntosh fit in this category. If you were really happy with Arcam/Monitor Audio (and I would be) then those giving you advice to go to Naim and other cables fit in this category.

You don’t have to crave the B&W / Mc sound to be a real audiophile. Get what you like and stick to it.

One of my most accomplished audio buddies is a fan of NAIM amps and preamp.  He pairs them with Focal Electra 906, and prefers the NAIM over some very good Cary tube gear. 

The most important thing is that you like the sound.  It's hard to say where the issue is for you, but it's always very personal, and of course interactive with the rest of a given system.  It might help if you could give some hints as to whether it's too bright, or too dull, lacking bass, booming bass, etc.  Have you tried adjusting the speaker placement a bit to increase or decrease bass reinforcement, and toe in?  I fine tuned my system with things like cables, power supply upgrades, placement, etc., and other stuff that's supposed to be barely audible, but yet it's made the difference between being good and spectacular with pretty much the same gear. 

Someone told you that Naim is better than Arcam. Wow...

One of my most accomplished audio buddies is a fan of NAIM amps and preamp.  He pairs them with Focal Electra 906, and prefers the NAIM over some very good Cary tube gear. 

p.s.: I failed to mentioned that his preference for NAIM products is very specific to certain model numbers, but I don't know which ones he prefers. 

Chalk this up to an expensive lesson learned — never just blindly follow a salesperson’s (or anyone’s) advice because your ears are the only thing that matters.  A good dealer should let you borrow equipment for a day or two to let you hear it in your system, and in this case that would’ve told you everything you needed to know.  Time to start over and get rid of the Naim amp/pre so you can start enjoying music again.  Obviously Arcam is a good place to start, but their sound could’ve changed over time so again don’t just buy blindly.  Luxman and Parasound were mentioned and would also be worth exploring, and I’ll add Ayre as another good candidate.  I’d try to get an amp with at least 100Wpc to make sure you have enough headroom for your speakers.  Best of luck.