Upgrade order suggestion preamp vs speakers

Beneficial change? You got to be kidding! Ditto Bigbucks5. Get out your wallet.

I agree with the current consensus. The Maxx will carve out a bigger more lifelike soundstage with deeper bass.

I think the Boulder preamps are quite good but you can find other reference preamplifiers which offer amazing performance and are much less expensive.

Speakers of course.

How will this affect matrimonial harmony?

might have guessed that. although they say the heart of the system is in the preamp. The ARC preamp was always good in my opinion but now I felt it was out classed by the speakers and the amp. I appreciate the suggestions, I will ponder it some more. The goal was for a bigger soundstage/more detail the concensus seems that the maxx 2 is that much better than the watt puppy.

Do you have enough room to play the Maxx?? It's a big speaker.
If so, and you generally like Mr Wilson's products, then here's another rec for the speakers.

As to the pre, it's outclassed imo by the rest of the equip. HOWEVER, most pre's aren't very good anyway; so, spend money where it's likely to make the most difference for the financial outlay. (You can also use a passive transformer based "pre" if you like, as an alternative to actually buying an active one for now... the big Boulder pre is hideously expensive!)