A little help please


My room is 13' x 21' x 8.5' ceiling. Speakers are located along the short wall about 12-18" off the wall. They can't come out as they'll block an entrance way.  They are about 4' from the side walls. 

Currently I have a Prima Luna Classic Integrated with their standard tubes. Source is Rega Apollo R, MMF-5/Clear Audio Nano V2, or Proton DAC. Speakers are Totem Arro (no mass laoding).

I realize that my placement isn't ideal and my wife's need for decorating balance with furnishings,etc require some trade-offs but I just don't think these speakers are up for the job in some cases. Some songs, like acoustic blues, female vocals, even piano sound great but I'm sometimes finding other recordings seem to sound muddy and there's no real pop and umf on some drums; like I'm hearing music but not feeling it some times.

The totems are not mass loaded. I have heard that mass loading them will tighten up the bass. I could also try some different tubes, but overall I'm not sure either or both will make that big a difference. Which leads me to a discussion of a sub or some new speakers.

I lean towards new speakers.

Possibilities (depending on what I can get my wife to agree to in price and size) are:

PSB Imagine T2, Quad 25L, Revel F206 - As noted above there are decorating issues. A sofa is located about 2.5 feet in front of the right side. As it is now imaging is good, my concern with these is they all have some low driver positions that will be an issue unless I can relocate. Relocating to the long wall is an issue because I'd have to straddle a working fireplace as well as other considerations. 

A larger Totem Forest - leaves me wondering if I'll have similar issues with bass.

Audio Physic Tempo 25 (NOT the plus version) - demo from my local store.

Vandersteen 3A - Signature - also demo from my local store. These are likely too big for my wife's taste; and quite possibly my amp.

 
 One thing I didn't note so far was the possibility of a sub-woofer.  I'm not thrilled with the idea but I haven't given it an ear so I can't say.

Thoughts anyone?

Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond, Jetson.
jetson
akg_ca Most of the JMR speakers are also 4 Ohm impedance but sensitivity is closer to 91 dB. Wouldn't I have the same problem on those as the Totem?

Thanks freediver - I'll do some searching. 
With that amp probably.It depends on how stable the impedance is & if it has big swings through the freq.spectrum.Anything with over about a 40degree swing I would shy away from.Take for instance the Toy Towers.Rated 8 ohms dip to mid 4’s in the upper bass BUT only swings 35 degrees so it’s a gentle curve,no problem.
Where can I find the curve you speak of and the 35 degree reference?

Most speaker curves I find are sensitivity vs. freq.
Totems and JMRs are completely diverse in their make-up.
The core problem for you is to avoid buying blind again and nobly relying on the recommendations of a third party, without actually auditioning the speaker / upstream kit set-up.

My two-bits worth:

dont gamble .... Full stop.

Drag your amp to a formal speaker audition either at a dealer or at a friend's , if you cannot borrow a weekend loaner in-house (preferred)

if if you are  going to roll the dice with no prior audition, that's über risky . You can mitigate that  risk -- to a degree--  by first inquiring what your electronics are frequently married up to at either the dealer and/or the audio paloozas. The quality audio mags reviews may be a decent first step to weeding out the herd down to a manageable lot.

In my experience, a quality British or Euro build speaker will likely have the ethereal sonic signature you may be seeking. Try to define what that is first, if Possible.

if you try to list what "you want" , that's hard.

But if formally list what you DON'T want , then I'm guessing that the points are helluva easier to identify as you compare your wish list to others experiences and search for""that" sonic signature. ( you know that they vary )

Then as you lazily contemplate the lint  in your navel as you scour the reviews (What Hi-Fi has a decent online , UHF Magazine also...)  
yiu make your notes.

An easy weekend sojourn: go personally audition the REGAs just as a first benchmark. I'm predicting that you may like what you hear .... and they have many dealers that make it comparatively easy to find a convenient local dealer.

Then scour Pinkfish media/ audio forum for a UK forum point of view of experiences and user posts. Canuckaudiomart is another source. 

Now you will have a base to compare to the next brand and model  on your list of contenders and pretenders 

Its a journey ...not a destination.