Replacements for Dynaudio Floorstanders

Well, to be honest, I pretty much agree with the others that you should consider swapping out the Krell for something a little less, well, Krellish. (Krell is very resolving, and sounds very much like solid state. Very well done solid state, but solid state nonetheless.) If you really don't want tubes, and really want to stick with solid state, I recommend trying the Ayre integrated amp. Ayre's house sound while not tubey, is less solid state sounding than the Krell is. (However, to get Ayre to sound its best, you'll need to run balanced cables.)

And if you insist on merely upgrading your speakers, I recommend the Sonus Faber Cremona. It is pretty much full range, and definitely is very musical, although it does give up a bit of resolution when compared to the Dynaudio line of speakers. You'll need to stretch your budget a bit, but not much more. (I found a pair here on Audiogon that is close to your budget, and maybe you can bargain them down a bit.)

Sonus Faber Cremonas for sale here on Audiogon

Good Luck in your search.

Swap out the Krell with a Rowland integrated (Concerto 2), then sit back and enjoy!

I owned the dynaudio 1.3 mkII and listened a lot to the 1.8 mkII. They have a similar sound, and I wouldn't call it cool. I agree with the other, the amp may be more the issue. Another amp to check out is the Musical Fidelity nuvista M3 integrated. That is what I used with the dynaudios, plenty of warmth.

I recently listened to the new Aerial 7ts and think you should check into them if you ultimately want to upgrade your speakers. They were hooked up to Mark Levinson separates and had a balanced, coherent sound with plenty of clean bass and detail without being "in your face" aggressive. Also, their imaging was outstanding for large full-range towers. I think they will retail in the mid 9K range which is around what you'd spend for used 802 diamonds.

I have owned and can wholeheartedly recommend McCormack DNA 125 or 225 for your Dyns. if you thought the Krell was worth keeping wait until you hear the dyns with the McCormack. I would be surprised if you did not have an A HA! moment. Read some reviews. Best of luck.