Thanks everyone for all of your responses so far.
After reading your comments I have slightly narrowed down my list but also added a few per your suggestions.
1. Rokas K2 BT ( I always hear about how smooth it sounds. It uses mosfet's. I like the Bluetooth feature and the built in phono is a plus)
2. Arcam A38 (I borrowed a well broken in A18 recently and felt it was pretty good. It was a little sharp in the upper mid range and lower treble with leading edge S and T sounds but overall not too bad at all. So I think could live with it. If the tone of A38 is like the A18 but with more dynamics then it might be a real contender)
3. Electrocompient PL-1 and PL-2. (My dealer has a PL-1 floor sample I can bring home to try. Discounted to $1400. I found a used PL-2 going for $2000. No phono option though. A phono preamp would be an extra cost)
4. Hegel H80 (My dealer also has one of these on floor I can try at home. Need phono preamp though and it's already at my $2000 budget)
5. Pathos Classic MK3 (The used one is still available for $2100 but again I need a phono preamp)
6. YBA IA-100 Heritage (long shot but I used to like YBA and Audio Refinement sound in the past)
7. LFD LE IV (I found one used but it sells for $2500. Tempting though as I have heard great things about it. Anyways, adding a good phono preamp will push the price well into the $3000 range so this is probably not viable)
P.S. I tried Rega and Naim before and the sound is too fatiguing and bright for me with vocals.