Upgrading bose 301's .. the next step ?

First, get a can of gasoline and a book of matches...just jokin'. Happily, there are a number of good speakers that you can acquire used for $1k or less. Here are some ideas to prime the pump:
1. Vandersteen 2Ce's (excellent nearly full-range speaker);
2. Thiel CS .5;
3. Reynaud Trente's;
4. PSB Stratus Bronze or Stratus Mini;
5. Paradigm models in this price range (can't think of the model numbers right now);
6. Magnepan 1.6/QR (even used, they may be a bit more than $1k);
7. Coincident Speaker Technology Triumph Signatures;
8. Joseph Audio RM7Si.
These speakers give you a pretty wide range of styles and sizes to choose from. I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions from the other faithful 'philes.

SD: Meant the Reynaud Twins ($845), which I own and highly recommend. The Trente's are over $2.5K.

Correct-a-mundo, Dekay (as Ed McMahon used to say). Sometimes my fingers don't always type what the brain is thinking. I meant "Twins", not "Trentes".