I was in exactly your shoes a few months ago and have upgraded everything except the CD player (mine is an ARCAM). I found the Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp and power amp to be phenomenal for the money. I got both slightly used, but even new the pair is around $3000 (I think Audio Advisor has one demo pre-amp left). THe amp was a Stereophile Recommended "Class A" and the pre-amp was Recommended "Class B." There is a Wes Phillips Review of the pre-amp saying he likes it better than just about anything short of the C-J ART or the top end Levinson's. And while I don't have all those references on hand for easy comparison I listened to alot of units and nothing else in the price-class came even close for me. You could get the set and still have money for a good IC to run between them.
Good Luck.
PS I don't sell the things, I just love mine.
Good Luck.
PS I don't sell the things, I just love mine.