mcintosh is comparatively giving warmer sound and has its own brand character. accuphase (jap brand) is pretty detailed and i quite like its pre-amp. these are equipment in use.
before u buy or replace your hifi gear, it is better to choose firstly speaker then pre-amp, power-amp, then source(s). Good SACD player is likely to play SACD better than CD, but best source i will still choose vinyl records.
your taste will guide you to pick speakers, but speaker size is quite depending on your listening size. the bigger your listening environment, the easier and more options of different speakers be available. when i choose my latest speakers, i started to search based on size of base units. the bigger the base units, the better performance, generally speaking. indepth with different layers of base sounds can be found from base units at 8 inches or above.