How much to spend to beat $1200 10yr old speakers?

Olivier-your KEF's are pre uni-q, which i beleive is a whole different animal- I've heard differing opinions on the KEF's with uni-q, from those who believe they are polite to others who think they are bright and foward- having never tried any other speakers in my system i'm not sure but i think they are a better match with my CJ amp than the PSB silver's that the dealer demoed the amp with 2 years ago- those were a bit too laid back with the CJ which seemed to "open up" when i got it home with my KEF's- so if KEF's are bright, bright is Ok with me- i hear the quad's have quite nice bass response for their size- something i could use a bit more of- how much are the 12l's anyways?

Correct, my KEF are pre Uni Q. But the point is that, in my opinion, it's not because they are old that they are completely outdated. Probably because I like neutral, laid back sound.
12L are about 170 - 200 Euros more expensive. It has a larger driver but does not seem to go lower than 11L (45Hz)bubut has a better sensivity (88dB). I'd think the 11L would be a better deal. The 12L I heard had a very good bass response given the size.

Olivier

If you loved Medowlarks than they more-likely will do the great job in your system v.s. your old Kefs and also v.s. Quads.

If you go Quad...go with the 12Ls...they have a much fuller presentation...and just to let u know...I would hesitate to call them bright... they are very revealing in nature...and sound nothing like rolled of SPendors or other "old-school" brit monitors...their 3-d imaging and bass is impressive...and in the QUad tradition...they are very transparent....

ALthough the Swifts have garnished much praise...I have not been impressed with their sound...to me they sound thin,hollow, and very lean....I much prefer the original KEstrals...

Phasecorrect, i agree, i heard the hot rod kestrels a couple years ago hooked up to some cheaper (goldentube) equipment and they were pretty stunning- so transparent, holographic imaging and good clean bass response- i wonder how the new Kestrel II will be, but thats a whole other price range- the imaging from the swift's was pretty holographic but they may be a bit lean as you said- at the time i thought maybe it was the amp- also, they sit kind of low for my ears, making images a little short- but hey, less than $1000 new- i'm intrigued by the quads but i think they'll be hard to find here in oregon