Aldres
First off you have a pretty good sized room, and I agree with those who recommend a floor standing speaker. I don't think monitors will give you enough "fill". Plus you want the sound to extend inro the additional rooms. Secondly don't buy without listening. Period. Plenty of people I know LOVE B&W speakers. If I had taken their advice and bought them without listening first I would have been an unhappy man. They're not my cup of tea. Only you can judge what you will or won't like. That feeling of realizing that you don't like the sound of the piece of equipment that you just bought because of positive reviews or recommendations, without auditioning first, is really a drag. I'll never do it again. If I haven't heard it, I'm not buying it.
The question of buying speakers or upstream equipment first continues to be debated. The true question is which is more important. Good speakers make mediocre equipment sound pretty good, and the opposite is also true. Mediocre speakers make good equipment sound mediocre. Your stereo cannot sound better than your speakers. Spend a little more on your speakers.
Now here's my recommendation. Take your $1000 and go out and buy a pair of used Vandersteen 2Ci speakers, usually in the $450 range. Take the rest and see if you can't find a good used Rotel or NAD Monitor series preamp/amp combination. Or even a nice Luxman integeated unit. These should be in the $350 range. That will leave you with a little left over money to buy some good speaker cable. Any of those upstream combos will sound pretty good, and the Vandersteens are, IMO, far and away the best used speaker you can buy for the money. They have great bass extension, they don't enhance the music, and they will carry well into the next room. Plus they are just so wonderful to listen to. But whatever you do, don't buy without listening first, and give yourself some perspective by listening to a lot of stuff before you buy.
Good Luck, Martin.
First off you have a pretty good sized room, and I agree with those who recommend a floor standing speaker. I don't think monitors will give you enough "fill". Plus you want the sound to extend inro the additional rooms. Secondly don't buy without listening. Period. Plenty of people I know LOVE B&W speakers. If I had taken their advice and bought them without listening first I would have been an unhappy man. They're not my cup of tea. Only you can judge what you will or won't like. That feeling of realizing that you don't like the sound of the piece of equipment that you just bought because of positive reviews or recommendations, without auditioning first, is really a drag. I'll never do it again. If I haven't heard it, I'm not buying it.
The question of buying speakers or upstream equipment first continues to be debated. The true question is which is more important. Good speakers make mediocre equipment sound pretty good, and the opposite is also true. Mediocre speakers make good equipment sound mediocre. Your stereo cannot sound better than your speakers. Spend a little more on your speakers.
Now here's my recommendation. Take your $1000 and go out and buy a pair of used Vandersteen 2Ci speakers, usually in the $450 range. Take the rest and see if you can't find a good used Rotel or NAD Monitor series preamp/amp combination. Or even a nice Luxman integeated unit. These should be in the $350 range. That will leave you with a little left over money to buy some good speaker cable. Any of those upstream combos will sound pretty good, and the Vandersteens are, IMO, far and away the best used speaker you can buy for the money. They have great bass extension, they don't enhance the music, and they will carry well into the next room. Plus they are just so wonderful to listen to. But whatever you do, don't buy without listening first, and give yourself some perspective by listening to a lot of stuff before you buy.
Good Luck, Martin.