Integrateds: $3K, $4.5K or $5K

I would also say that Ayre and Hegel are two of the BEST integrateds right now as both go with every speaker I've auditioned over the last 7 months as I redo my whole system. Good to hear others liking their gear.

Thanks for the recommendations on the Hegel and Ayre. The Ayre AX5 looks great but at $10k is out of my price range.
I'm looking into the Hegel H300, but may be hard to find a dealer in my area.
I've also arranged to home audition the Musical Fidelity m6500i (500 wpc, $7K)
Would appreciate any comments, comparison to the Hegel.

I have the Ayre 7xe....it's plenty powerful for all the speakers I've heard it with. That includes Focal, Vandy, B&W, Legacy, Dynaudio, Paradigm and many others. You should check it out if you can. I personally feel the Ayre is the most natural/tube like. Very strong throughout the whole band. The MF isn't my cup of tea, but you may like it. Powerhouse for sure, but lacking some of the finess that I hear in the Ayre and the Hegel. I have now heard the Hegel in two systems and it sounded very different. Don't know why, but it did. That's why I am now driving hours each way to NJ from CT as I trust John at Audio Connections in Verona, NJ. I know he sells around the country. You may want to give him a shout as he also sells Rogue and AR in addition to Rega, Music Hall, NAD and Ayre. He knows what goes and what doesn't. He also sells a ton of used gear and much of it is newer and in great shape. If you have another vendor who has been around a long time, use them, but I'd deal with a store owner as they won't play games with you most of the time. If you find one who does, please let us all know, lol.

I have owned Joseph 25 and 7 speakers for years and gave heard them with many different amps, including Musical Fidelity, Jolida, Gamut, Shindo, Cary, Canary and quite a few others.
For my money, if I were only going integrated route in your price range, I would look for a used Electrocompaniet ECI-3. It would work magic with the Pulsars.