Speaker upgrade?

I heard the Stratus Golds many years ago. I was not impressed. I would say it’s probably a lateral move at best.

Swapping those speakers would likely be lateral at best.  If you are still pleased with the sound of the Kefs how about adding a subwoofer?  This will likely be the best bang for the buck.  Good luck and cheers.

Any way you can take the HK out of the equation? 

I am going to use a Kenwood C2 preamp instead do the HK and see how that sounds. Also waiting on a APT Holman preamp to get refurbished. Thanks

If you can find the original Paradigm Studio Monitors they are really impressive especially in the bass. The old Stereophile review is BS in my opinion, the low bass and mid bass is Strong but not slow and it’s impactful. Mids and highs are very neutral and the tweeter is pretty darn detailed and not in your face.  Very full sounding speaker. Just need a good hundred watts of mid to high current amplification.