New speakers or new amp - your thoughts


I have Focal 927Be 25th Anniversary speakers with an REL sub to supplement the very low octaves, with an Ayre QB-9 as my primary source run through a Musical Fidelity A308 Integrated amp. I've recently sold some gear and am planning an upgrade (merry christmas to me).

I've been very happy with the MF amp but it is the only piece of gear I haven't upgraded in years. I was planning to move up to the Focal 1028Be's, but I'm curious if the smart money thinks I'd get more bang for my buck with a new integrated/pre/amp upgrade? I'm guessing if I did grab those new Focal's, I'd want better amplification to really make them sing anyway. Speakers just seem more exciting than a new amp however. 

Thoughts?
fargel
My vote for room treatment above gear changes. Always! Check out the room kits from GIK Acoustics or similar. A huge amount of what you hear is the room itself, so taming it pays off more per dollar than any other thing you might do.
I just read specs on your speakers and amp. I recently upgraded from a pair of Focal Chorus 836V speakers to the 1028be which is driven by a Marantz Pm 11S3 integrated and I love the combination. While specs are not a substitute for listening to a system, your speakers are remakably similar specs to the 1028 and your amp  puts out 150w and doubles in output ( like my Marantz) to deal with the 100ohm dip Focals tend to exhibit  so I imagine the upgrades would need to be very dramatic ( and expensive) to make a significant sonic improvement. 

If money is burning a hole in your pocket perhaps consider these alternatives:

room treatment - as mentioned above most people ( including me) spend far too littl attention to this. 

GAIA isolation feet. These are on my Christmas wish list as an easily reversible tweak that seems to get nothing but positive reviews.

A  second subwoofer ?

Merry Christmas 


You already have a nice system, so how about a power conditioner?
Even a modest oneac from eBay would help to protect the electronics and improve the sound (bigger one the better for smoother sound)

When you do upgrade, make sure it's enough of upgrade in sound and not a side ways move. 

I like Focals for their transparent highs - so how about a Krell amp?

Perhaps it's time to go separates if you really want noticeable improvements...
room treatments might be a better investment, less sexy per se but probably rewarding.

after that, my personal bia is upgrade transducers as they have the most difficult job to do.

on your QB, which filter do you use ????
Have you downloaded the most excellent Ayre recordings jsing the Ayre A2D ? Reference grade stuff, IMO