Well I settled on speakers at least. I found a pair of Von Schweikert VR4JR speakers for 2000 which included shipping. It was a great decision, the speakers sound incredible. I feel their decision to have the beautiful enclosure done in China by a furniture store made these much less expensive. Truly a full range speaker with excellent bass response. I would not have been happy to just hear a minimal gain in sound quality over my Klipsch Heresy III's and these did not disappoint.
Some have recommended I go to stereo stores and listen to speakers, but speaker stores are not going to carry older speaker models being sold for half the price. You really have to research the reviews and listen to ordinary audiophiles and their views on the speakers. I was actually sold on the VR4SR version of this model but those were a bit out of my budget and a bigger speaker to find the room for. The VR4JR was smaller and I was hoping the full range was represented in them as well, and I was right. Maybe not the ideal way to find speakers but it worked for me. The fact that they were recommended in a post or two to me helped my decision!
Some have recommended I go to stereo stores and listen to speakers, but speaker stores are not going to carry older speaker models being sold for half the price. You really have to research the reviews and listen to ordinary audiophiles and their views on the speakers. I was actually sold on the VR4SR version of this model but those were a bit out of my budget and a bigger speaker to find the room for. The VR4JR was smaller and I was hoping the full range was represented in them as well, and I was right. Maybe not the ideal way to find speakers but it worked for me. The fact that they were recommended in a post or two to me helped my decision!