Help with next upgrade

@jmcgrogan2 good points. I don’t think separates are superior to integrateds in an absolute sense as value can be determined by investment and utility. When I became more serious about hifi it was still before I was numb to the pricing structures in the hobby. I thought $2,295 for my Cronus Magnum was expensive compared to the Onkyo and Sony ‘do it all’ receivers I previously owned.

Regarding the comments on the super high end companies now producing integrateds and some even experimenting with Class D or a hybrid of it, I think it’s for several reasons:

Increased competition from other equipment manufacturers
fighting for spent dollars (as you say, less cables and rack space needed, frees up more dollars to spend on the integrated du jour. Plus, even when I became somewhat numb to component/speaker pricing, I still had a hard time reconciling cable prices. I just bought a ZU Event XLR for $475 and I’m still a little stunned I did it.
aging audiophile community (how to appeal to a newer generation). So many of my friends have Rega, Schiit and Rogue gear. The higher end or more expensive producers can’t sit around and wait forever hoping to be there when and if an upgrade is in store.

If you can earn a new customers trust early in the journey; you may be in position to continue the relationship while they move up the product line.

These companies are doing all they can to produce value peices for people like me when I was considering Rogue. I may have gone with PS Audio Stellar equip had it been around at the time.

I believe it’s a similar model to to the luxury car market. You are now seeing cars produced from audi, Mercedes and others to compete with cars they never competed with before. 

I believe the market is trending in favor of premium Integrated amps.Not suggesting that separates are tanking,the sand box is big enough for many players.I'm currently enjoying a Coincident Technology Dynamo 34SE MKII which in my system is as good as anything I've had the pleasure of owning.

There are two or three reviews out now of the XA25 comparing its sound to the XA30.8 and/or INT-60.  The '25 is now definitely on my radar.

I have the Zu Omen bookshelves, and talked to the Zu guys at the annual CAS Audio show. 
I told them I was particularly liking the Druids. They said that the druids and the Soul Supremes have the same inner hardware, cones,etc as the Druids. They said the speaker outside shape is different, but sound is essentially the same as the Druids. Said the Druids cost more due to manufacturing the speaker with the thick metal plinths at the base of the Druids. 

They suggested pairing the Soul Supremes with the Zu Undertone sub to fully flesh out the bottom down to 14 Hertz, and I’ve read of some folks in the forums who are happy with the set up. And recently, I read that a guy had the Zu Def MKII and was run8ng them with a 1 watt tube amp, Linear Tube Amplifiers ZOTL/MicroZOTL I think. They make the special David Berning patented tube amps