upgrade to the original birdland

I was thinking that the odyssey lorelei's would be a good choice, or maybe a monitor with outstanding bass.

Sean34, I note in your other thread ("taming female voice") you indicate that you have a "cheap toshiba transport". Before I invested in another DAC I believe I would address the cheap transport first. As the saying goes, "garbage in - garbage out". Given your budget, perhaps a good CDP would be a better upgrade? Just a thought. Good luck with your search.

Sean34,
I have never heard this speaker before.From checking it out on the web. It's not much different from the speakers you already own. Take your time looking for the speakers,they are atleast 50% of the sound in a system IMHO. Noting you seem to favor a two way design and going on the power output of your tubed integrated,combined with the room size.The Zu Druids might be a speaker worth checking out.I'm not a cheerleader for them.God knows we have enough of them already around here!LOL

I've never heard them before.But I do favor minimal crossovers or none at all.That try before you completely buy policy is a great offer.You've proved that it isn't the source yourself.

I wouldn't spend another dime on cables or a source until you try a different pair of speakers.You maybe surprised how good your current gear sounds on a speaker with no crossovers in the critical part of the frequency spectrum. I'm sure you'll be stunned to say the least.:-) Of course this is just my opinion.

Once you find a speaker with sound characteristics that you can live with and become familiar with.Then you can begin to tweak the rest of the system.This is when you will hear any minuet change in the system..making it easier to tweak.

Cheers!

ignorant question: why do you favor no crossovers or very little? I have heard from people that the reference 3a speakers have no crossover and are outstanding. What are the advantages and disadvantages of one type or the other? Thanks!

Also, cruz123, I have read two schools of thought on the transport thing. What do you think about the opinion...the dac changes the signal anyway so it would be a waste to buy an expensive transport? Sorry for the ignorance!