Matthew, I'm not a regular contributor, but I'm an avid reader of this forum, so don't take this the wrong way, but (here it comes): are you happy?
It seems that some people - and you at times - are viewing your quest for the best setup as a sort of ordeal, which it shouldn't be. You've obviously got the time, the resources and the experience to try and to rate all these different amps, speakers and cdp's. Isn't that search what makes this hobby of ours so much fun?
In the past year I changed my speakers, amp, cdp, amp again, tt, speakers again. It's all budget kit, but the improvements are really worth it. WHF and this forum - especially users like yourself - provide very useful guidelines, but not more than that. We're obviously all working with different budgets, room conditions, aesthetics, wives/girlfriends and what not. So I ended up with a 5 star amp nobody here seems to own, a 2 star cdp nobody mentions and, after a brief period with 5 star speakers, 3 star speakers nobody on this forum commented on. And very happy with it.
So my point is: don't forget to enjoy! You get to hear your favourite music through great kit, we get your thorough reviews and in the end, you'll find the sound you have been looking for all along. It might just be from a different system than you thought you were looking for! Because after all it's the sound that counts, not the box.
Again: I'm not being rude, actually just trying to cheer you up. Good luck!