I can only tell you what I would do in your situation, not what you should do, but FWIW, a year ago, I was in a similar situation. I spent months researching downsizing options for a move to a 14x17’ room. Part of that effort was a deep dive into EX-8-class integrateds.
I finally settled on a $20K T+A R 2500 R, despite the fact that it cost multiples of the other candidates on my list, but the overall sonics and connectivity of this German box really blew away most of the competition. I understand that you may not want to spend that much money, but more on that below.
FWIW, the EX-8 2.0 is a wonderful piece of gear, based on Charlie’s posthumous designs. Your Ax is, overall, a superior unit, but the price difference far outweighs any subtle sonic compromises. Both enjoy the same overall Ayre house sound, outstanding power supplies, and broad functionality.
I didn’t go with Ayre because of persistent rumors about the company’s viability. Ayre reps work hard to paint a rosy picture, but when you try to actually buy an EX-8 from a site that advertises it, it usually has to be built to order. There seems to be little product in the channel, which was a red flag. That alone discouraged me from going with what was initially my first choice.
The Hegel integrated, as others have mentioned here, was in the same class as the EX-8. In their respective price ranges, they’re tough to beat.
T+A also has some lower-priced integrateds, like the Symphonia. I’m not real familiar, but a quick scan suggests that they’re as worthy of consideration as the R 2500 R.
I evaluated over a dozen other integrateds, but none was able to meet all my requirements. I wanted small, light, Class A or A/B, connectivity sufficient to support double-duty powering the front channels of a small home theater, and, of course, an outstanding DAC. I would have loved an Audio Reserach integrated, but alas, tubes and home theaters don't mix.
All three of these offer innovative and highly successful proprietary power supply designs that are extremely quiet & lightweight. Hegel an Ayre include good DACs (depending on model), but the obvious standout in the area of integrated DAC-streaming is obviously T+A. The company is only now becoming recognized in this country, but in Europe, T+A is recognized as producing some of the finest dual-path DACs on the market. The R 2500 R, e.g., includes what is essentially the company’s $8K standalone DAC. And, as I’m sure you know, the integrated form factor provides numerous advantages over separates (sorry if I’m making anybody’s head spin) for use cases like ours, not the least of which is the inclusion of a common clock for DAC & streamer, one that does not require external cabling or an Ethernet switch.
As for speakers, if you like the Sonus Faber sound, great. But in a smaller environment, I found that the Harbeth C7 was hard to beat. (The C7 is arguably indirectly descended from the smaller LS3/5A, but I wouldn’t characterize it as a “BBC design”. It’s a thin-walled “rectangular box,” but its cherry finish is hardly “ugly.”) I was ready to spend $20K on speakers, and I’m a bit of a hard sell, having listened exclusively to a pair of Quad ESLs for the last 30 years. None other than the late Art Dudley, however, assured me that the C7’s voicing was the closest I’d find to that of an ESL in a small box and when I finally got around to hearing a pair, found that he was right. I still miss the ESLs, and always will. But overall, the C7 works in my specific environment: it’s quite small, light, mates well with many subs, and despite middling sensitivity, is a very easy load. And its circa-$5000 price tag is crazy low. The $5-20K I saved by not going with something like a small MBL or Vivid system paid for major tonearm, cartridge, & cabling upgrades.
Ayre and Hegel are good choices, but if you’re gonna be in Europe, top-notch Euro outfits like T+A (and Harbeth) would be my first choices.
Oh yeah, T+A support is also outstanding. When a circuit board suffered an infant-mortality failure, the head of T+A domestic distribution contacted me personally to assure me that he was overnighting a part to me and would supervise the repair effort – which was quite simple. Really, a class outfit.