Replacement for current speakers suggestions

First - my sincerest well wishes to you Bogiedr. But I struggle to see how MC was trying to be anything but helpful, and i can't understand the vitriol he regularly receives. Yes he can be provocative at times but that's a good thing. This forum by and large tries to find ways to take issue with him, and in the rare occurrence when a comment might sting, it usually stings because it's true, not because it's false. Most of us in this forum have been successful enough to afford this hobby, and i would contend that none of us were thin-skinned in the environments that enabled us to afford this hobby.

KEF ls50 metas were the biggest disappointment I've ever had - got sucked in by the reviews and trust the brand; I have a wonderful pair of (late 60's?) KEF Concord (I think but the fronts are different) a pair of Celeste mkIIs (still an adequate speaker) and a couple of pairs of Quad ESL57s as well as countless modern B & W (705s and others) and Mission stuff.

To be fair it may be the unusual placement (on a plinth in the middle of the room alongside said Concords) and they may be happier with the usual stands on the floor but I got them to replace my vintage beauties. I thought they would be crystal clear, image well and sound 'fast' at the expense of some warmth but they sound on the flat side of neutral- just dull

How can springs noticably change sound?  Does an amplifier jump around when being played?  Please explain this.  The more I listen to some of these discussions I am convinced many in this hobby are obscessive compulsive.  Not trying to put people down, but to someone new to this hobby some of this makes no sense.  

As far as the speakers are concerned, I would never consider Monitor Audio.  They are very harsh and bright sounding for my ears.  The Paradigm Persona 3's sound quite good.  Perhaps you might listen to a pair of Vienna Accoustics.  They are very warm sounding with their soft dome.  However, I like to hear more detail in the highs such as cymbals when playing jazz.  However, someone who primarily listens to classical music would just love them. They are warm sounding, but they are very bassy.  As we age, I have been told many of us lose hearing in the higher frequencies.  Perhaps, this is why Berrylium tweeters have gained popularity.

I just upgraded my speaker wires and purchased an expensive power cable and they do sound more spacious and they reveal more detail.  At first they sounded harsh during the first 4 hours.  The sales person is now trying to sell me a power cord and a digital cable for my BlueSound for $1,050.  I paid $500 for my BlueSound Node 2i.  He swears this will totally upgrade sound quality because it is treating the source.  You can't tell me it costs more to manufacture two wires as compared to the BlueSound.  I have my BlueSound connected using two RCA"s.  He said if I connect using digital cable it will reveal an enormous amount ot detail and space and it will allow my ARCAM DAC, which is better than the DAC in the Bluesound.  I wonder what others in this group think about this.

Interesting discussion thus far.

It’s tough to beat the Maggie 1.7i for the money, however, to do them justice, they have to be AT LEAST 3 feet out from the front wall. 4 to 5 feet is much better, unless you have some diffusion behind them. Also, they don’t have much bass impact, so for me, a sub is a must. I tried keeping them 2 feet from the front wall and experimented with all sorts of positioning (toe in/no toe in, spacing between them, tweeters in/tweeters out) and nothing worked well untill I pulled them 4 feet out into the room. I don’t have diffusion behind them, so that may have helped with them closer to the wall, as I was told by the dealer.  Due to the sound coming out of the rear of the planers, you run into phase cancellation problems when that sound bounces back off of the wall. 

I’m not familiar with your amp, but I wouldn’t go with anything less that 150 watts at 4 Ohms. They require lots of high current power to really sing. I’m using a PS Audio BHK amp which runs at 500 watts into 4 Ohms. Even with that power, I find the bass lacking without my two REL subs.

With that being said, when positioned properly and feeding them with the required amount of power, they can sound spectacular.  I've not heard a speaker under $5000 that comes close.   

I have the Monitor Audio 500 speakers. The sound is very accurate and lush. You won't need a sub. with these. I got an open box deal from Safe and Sound for $2100 a pair. I am also using a KT88 tube amp that I paid $2000 for and drives the MA 500's at 30 watts.

The Maggies may be picky about the listening position.

Good luck and take it a day at a time.