Help power pair of Infinity Kappa 9's please

If you are looking for holographic spatial cues and full frequency extension, what speakers are an easier to drive ‘upgrade’ from the Kappa 8’s?

Not to be snarky, but a lot.  Vandersteen, Vortex Acoustics by Von Schweikert, Ascend Acoutics, Philharmonicaudio, magnepans with a subwoofer, and Salk Sound are a few that pop to mind immediately. There are dozens if not hundreds of options that will be easier to drive and sound as good, if not better. 

I would appreciate specific models of speakers that are upgrades from the Kappa 8’s.  Killing three expensive amps in two weeks is too much.

What is your budget?  Adjusting for inflation would put them at about $4300 new today.  In that same price range, or lower:

Vandersteen 2CE Signature II- $2,700
Magnepan .7 ($1400) plus Rythmik F12 ($1000)-= $2400
Vortex Acoustics VR-33- $3,750
Revel F36- $2000
Philharmonic 3- $3500
Salk Sound Song 3a- $2995
Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower- $1998

All the above are new prices.  Used you can get better deals or move up in the range (i.e. Vandersteen 3A Sig, Magnepan 1.7).  The above are just a few of the excellent choices available.  The 8s were IMHO, not anything amazing.  Pretty good sounding, but not fabulous.  You really have to spend some time listening to see what you like.  All of the above are great speakers, and there are dozens more.  The issue is what you like.  Some will like all on the list, some will some and hate others, some will hate them all.  It is very personal.  

Excellent thread!  Another new 9Kappa owner here.  I'm mainly trying to figure out what subwoofer to get and what preamps/crossovers I will need to try bi-amping.  But I'll tell the longer story here just for fun:

I always loved the look of the Kappa 9s -- plus it is possible for them to sound great with the right amps.  After 30 years of wanting a pair, someone a mile away had an estate sale over the summer and I ended up with a pair of Kappa 6s and 9s (all 6 woofers in desperate need of foam) as well as a Nakamichi PA-7, Adcom 535, and a LaserDisc player.  Quite a nice rig in the late 80's!

I knew what I was in for with the Kappa 9 amp killers, and I have been holding on to a Parasound HCA-3500 just for this occasion -- it is probably a good "starter amp" for these monsters.  I expect there will be a lot of tweaking ahead to get the best sound, and just to make things more tricky -- I have never used dipole speakers before.

I just got the refoamed woofers back yesterday!  My first impression was: it sounds terrible when one speaker is on Extended and the other isn't.  Once I figured this out, it starting sounding better -- but I am definitely going to want a subwoofer since Phish bass is hugely important to me.  Can someone recommend one that would be a good match and in line with the "entry level audiophile" price range I usually shoot for?  My previous speakers were Boston VR-970s which I really enjoyed -- the low end on them was perfect for live rock concerts.  If I can get anywhere close to this type of low end in a way that matches the Kappa 9s, I will consider this upgrade a success.

Also, this is my first bi-amping experience so I am not sure what kind of preamp/crossover gear I should buy to start experimenting.  I think it will be best to use the PA-7 for the high pass and the 3500 for low pass... plus the subwoofer.  Presumably I will want a crossover that will split into high, low, and sub levels from the 2 preamp channels, right?  Is there any way to do this that will still allow 5.1 to work properly -- i.e. an integrated preamp/crossover?  This is starting to feel like a "lmgtfy.com" moment now.  :D

Thanks!Mark
p.s. is there any point in trying to understand the details of Extended mode?  If I add a sub and I'm bi-amping is there any reason to choose one mode over the other?
p.p.s. wow at moderate volume the HCA3500 is too hot to touch for more than a second or two... might be a fire hazard.