I suggest the Monitor Audio Bronze 6 speakers, which sell for around $600 each.

They have 90 db/watt sensitivity. You don't want anything with lower sensitivity than that with a 50 watt/ch amplifier. Also, they are rated to go down to 34 Hz, which is much lower than many tower speakers. Most tower speakers should really be used with a subwoofer for adequate bass, but these should have enough bass without a sub.

I also think that the sound quality of that old CD player is not very good. Many newer CD players use chips that are far superior to what that old one uses, and the resulting sound quality has significantly lower distortion; much better-sounding.

I recommend the Marantz CD6006. It is only $500, and to get one that sounds a lot better you would have to spend over $1000. But it WILL sound much better than what you have now. It is excellent-sounding for its price.

bradt wrote:

Howdy. I've read enough forum material to know how subjective and contingent the topic is, but still...

My current main speakers are older (90s) Paradigm 9se MK II towers. The other speakers I have and am familiar with are 90s-era Paradigms 3se minis and contemporary KEF Q100s.

I like the clarity and definition of the KEFs a lot, and was happy with them in a small room until I got the big Paradigms, which are fuller and obviously have more visceral bass, though they lack much of what I like about the KEFs. The Paradigm minis seem to almost to split the difference between the two — those are pretty sweet little bookshelf speakers. Still, I keep going back to the 9se towers as mains, because the others just sound too small in comparison. All of them sound too boxy.

I've moved to a new place, with another relatively small living room, and I know nobody here can tell me what's right for this space, but I'm itching to upgrade the speakers. I want a better combination of the fullness and bass of the Paradigm towers and the definition and clarity of the KEFs. Basically a next-step audiophile-esque speaker.

I'd prefer to buy new, and I'm not interested in repairing, restoring, or modifying old speakers, though if a consensus emerges about some specific (recently) older speakers that are maybe actually widely available in good shape, I'd consider looking into them.

I listen to rock, hip hop, folk, jazz, country, blues, funk, and classical, so I don't want a genre-specialist speaker (to the extent that such a thing even exists). Versatility is key. I play mostly vinyl, occasional CDs, a little radio.

I'm able to consider smaller-footprint towers and bookshelf speakers. I've thought about, and will probably keep thinking about, the Magnepan LRS, but my concern is getting the things far enough from the walls. I don't have a lot of flexible space. One of the things I appreciate about the KEF's is the front-facing port, which allows me to keep them closer to walls.

I'll be powering the speakers with a 50 WPC Music Hall A15.3 amplifier, so I have reasonably good-quality power, but not a ton of it. I think that's one reason I may not be getting the most out of the 4 ohm Pradigm towers.

And of course I don't want to spend more than $1,000, though for argument's sake let's call it $1,500.

I'm pretty wary about finding anything much better than the KEF Q100 in its price range, so I'm definitely looking for an upgrade, and expecting to pay for it.

The set-up I have now is basically my system's second upgrade, from even humbler beginnings. I'm looking for my third upgrade, which I'm focusing on speakers.

Any experience-based suggestions and pointers would be much appreciated.

My stuff:
—Music Hall A15.3 integrated amp
—Paradigm 9se MK II speakers
—Clearaudio Concept TT
—cheap Onkyo CD player