“Compromised” relative to what? All technology has tradeoffs, at any price point. I guess my Linn Klimax system with active 350 speakers is also “compromised” since it’s “all in one”.
If you want fit and forget I can see why the KEF LS50’s keep coming up, similar type products are probably its baby brother the KEF LSX, but they are probably not enough speaker for your room. Also check out the Dynaudio Xeo 10s, the B&W Formation Duo and the Rubicon 2C’s although the last two might be out of the price range.
Other things to consider could be an Naim Uniti Atom, which you could just connect to your speakers, although I do agree it might be worth going the speaker first route. If you think you might be in for the long haul, then possibly consider getting seperate speakers, amps, dacs, streamers etc, then you can swap out the bits you need when you want to, but you will want to think about an order of ‘attack’, otherwise it can be very expensive.
Room treatment may also be possibility worth exploring at some point in the future.
And, above all, try and test kit at home if you can (although obviously tricky right now due to world events). I have avoided a few pit falls that way. But now is a great opportunity to try different things with your current set-up.
Good luck!
Yes, give the LS50W’s a good demo.
For some extra fun, demo with a pair of subs too (using the KEF’s internal DSP crossover to the subs)…
I think it’s worth double checking what the receiver is doing with different inputs. I’m guessing a bit - never been down the home cinema rabbit hole - but it may be assuming the HDMI input is for a movie soundtrack, and doing bass management differently where the sub is an LFE channel. Certainly you need to be sure the crossover between sub and mains is actually a crossover - you shouldn’t be feeding the mains a full range signal.
I’m definitely of an opinion that you should look at speakers first, but the KEF LS50 are known to require very good amplifiers. The Rotel RA10 was suggested as a good value option. I’ve listened to them using a Rogue Sphinx amp and they are wonderful. The combination was a little out of my price range though.
I settled on the Dynaudio Excite x14, they go lower than the LS50, are still very open and have a bit more punch in the bass. I partnered it with a PS Audio Sprout 100. I got the speakers open box, all in for ~$1400 USD including the amp. The wife likes them as they are a lot smaller than my old speakers.
You could also look at the Klipsch RP600M, or the ELAC Unifi ub5, both currently getting rave reviews and they are a little more forgiving of the amp, so more easily driven by your existing amp.
On the active speaker front, ELAC, Klipsch and Dynaudio all have options.
Final thought is the Martin Logan bookshelves, you can try them out at Best Buy here in the US, but they have an air motion tweeter that you might like.
Everybody has well intentions when they suggest their favorite speakers, but only you will be able to make the final decision.
For my part, I suggest GoldenEar as a musical speaker at a value price…
Had enough? 
No, I haven’t had enough! Haha. This is great, I love all the suggestions and opinions. There are seemingly infinite combinations and options so its nice to narrow it down using input from others who have graciously taken the time to understand my situation.
I did some further testing and do believe that my receiver is treating HDMI inputs differently than other music intended inputs. So I have gone back to my Chromecast Audio connected via optical to the CD input of the receiver. I’ve made some gains but am still left wanting more!
I’ve thought more about the separates / all-in-one debate and I think I’m leaning towards separates. I don’t think a ‘set it and forget’ system is going to satisfy as I take too much joy in fiddling and tweaking. I like the idea of being able upgrade over time as well. I’m going to be in this for the long haul so inevitably I’m going to want to upgrade components at some point.
As far as order of attack, I think the consensus is to start with speakers and an amp but depending on funds, I might have to wait to purchase an upgraded amp to properly power the speakers I choose.
One way I could approach it is:
- New speakers powered by the Marantz
- New power amp, still use the Marantz as DAC/preamp
- New DAC and preamp
I’ll start researching all the speakers mentioned here. Last night I spent some time browsing Schiit Audio and am very intrigued by their gear. Does anyone have experience with their equipment? Looks like no frills, high quality gear. I like minimalist design as well. Some of their integrated gear has upgradeable cards as well, which I like the idea of.
Well that’s opened a new can of worms… 
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Another option would be an integrated amp.
Schiit Audio is a very controversial subjct on this forum, to put it mildly.
OTOH, check out the Schiit reviews, among others, here -
OTOH, the Schiit owners and others despise that web site.
As usual, nothing is clear cut or without opinions.
Oh! Well, I don’t want to open that can of worms… Good to know, thanks.
Forgot to mention I have two Schiit Vidar amps that I run as monoblocks. 
Haven’t read ALL the existential naval gazing, but probably enough.
You need new speakers.
After that, when you’ve spent $10k to $20k on speakers and amps, a DAC might, MIGHT give you that 1% improvement. JMO.
But seriously, speakers.
Haven’t noticed any mention of what kind of music you listen to. And in a perfect world it wouldn’t matter because all speakers, amps, sources should reproduce it faithfully.
But, if you like to rock, get some efficient, big ass Klipsch heritage (but not Heresy) speakers like Forte III or reissue Chorus whatevers, or some JBL L100 reissues, and rock the uh… out. Probably good for jazz, too.
KEF, meh. Towers with little wimpy woofers, meh. Go big or go home.
JMO. 
Hi ,
My first post , I’ve not read all earlier posts but recently went to ls50 wireless , no sub m, inous zen streamer and Tidal . Out went chord DAC , précis amp , shahinian Speakers and sub .
Get very good sound , bass is amazing from these little boxes . I’m not into the massive detailed listening anymore But enjoy this sound more than old set up .
My wife queried why I didn’t get this setup 15 years ago !
In my personal experience of all enhancements I had (DAC, receiver, subwoofer, cables, etc.), biggest SQ improvement came from a power conditioner by far.
In my case this is an Audioquest Niagara 1200. It improved every single component and sound overall.
I’ve owned several of their headphone amps, and I still own an Yggdrasil A2 DAC that goes with my current “exotic” headphone amps. As someone else said, some of their DACs, including the Yggdrasil, are controversial in some circles. I love it, it’s been the most long-lived DAC in my collection, but if you obsess over measurements below audibility, it may not be for you. I’ve never used their speaker amps (it never quite fit my wants & needs), but I’m told that their Ragnarok integrated works really well with LS50s and several other speakers for a small-to-midsized room.
The Vidar is what I had in mind when I mentioned getting a new power amp and using the Marantz as a DAC/preamp as an upgrade along with new speakers. How do you like the Vidar? Do you need a Vidar amp for each speaker or can you run a stereo pair from one? What does the rest of your system consist of?
I actually noticed on their website a photo of LS50s setup in their listening room at their retail location.
I like rock but I’m looking for something that will perform well at lower volumes playing jazz, blues, classical.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the LS50w. My wife doesn’t, for the life of her, understand why I need to upgrade any part of my system, it sounds really good as it is. haha.
Interesting. I definitely think I need to do something about my power quality. Not sure I could bring myself to spend $1k on a power conditioner though.
I’m still struggling with your room layout 
If you can’t get the speakers in a better position, everything will be a big compromise. That’s why some of us were suggesting wireless solutions. The room itself is not that big, so you may not need anything as beefy as even a single Vidar. Heck, an Aegir with some efficient speakers might actually win if your better half allows you to run wires Anyway, I’d first figure out the layout, then the speakers, and finally the amp etc.
Yah, I’m not sure what to do about that. The French doors are always open unless I’m listening to music at night, so if I put the speakers on that side they would have to be fairly wide apart. They would be about 12’ apart and about 10’ to the couch. I could always pop the trim off and run wires but even so I think the speakers would be too far apart. Where they are now I had to prop up the stands to make them taller so the one could get over the couch.
My wife wants to get rid of the sectional and get a different couch so maybe I should go along with that so that I can configure the room better for my speakers.
If you can do that, maybe having some listening seating cross-wise to the French doors, facing the window, then the current speaker location would make sense.