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

Quads look nice. Heard them with older Arcam stuff which is sort of flat sounding. Even so, I thought they tended to be bright. Read Brit-mag review and they said could be bad with bad recordings.
Hard to find but try ATC SCM 7's (I think www.flatearthaudio.com). Also B&W CDM 1 NT, DynAudio Audience 52's.

Hello, I'm not familiar with your speakers but I still use some KEF 104 from 1976 (with updated crossovers making them 104 aB). I face same problem...I have heard the Quad 12L with some NAD amplification. Quiet nice, dynamic a bit too brigth for me. But I still enjoy more my oldies KEFS for the music I listen to: Jazz, blues, rock.
So I don't know...I was advised to add a quality sub from REL (for example). Did you think of that option ?

Olivier

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my KEF are pre Uni Q. But the point is that, in my opinion, it's not because they are old that they are completely outdated.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.