I am a big fan of Dynaudio..Started with Audience 42>Audience 52>Audience 52SE>Excite X14 & now have Excite X18's in my bedroom system..Stay AWAY from ALL the old series Dynaudio's like Audience 42/52,Excite X12 or C1.1...These were the last series that followed the old Dynaudio mid bass hump/bass heavy tone that you are already dealing with...With the Excite X14's Dynaudio tuned the voice for less of a bass heavy sound to a more neutral,detailed & slightly lush tone..
A gently used pair of Evoke 10's will put you where you want to be tonally...
Here is a FANTASTIC deal on a beautiful Walnut pair(NO affiliation with seller)..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/296623873854?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=fxduz_YSQBu&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=ahWvhnQsSf-&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Bookshelf speaker recommendations
I am in the need for some recommendation for bookshelf speakers in a small room(10x10). I currently have the Paradigm Mini Monitor v3 and for the price are good sounding speakers but they are way too midbass heavy like boxy sounding. A few options I was looking was the Dynaudio Audience 42 or 52 or even the Contour 1.1. I listening to everything but mostly rock and country. Every once in a while I like listening to vocals and acoustic instruments.
This will be powered by an Acurus A150 amplifier with a Rotel RC-995 preamp. My source is strictly lossless files and some streaming.
My budget is around 1.2k.