New Speakers under consideration - but I’m afraid

Good luck with your demos. Hopefully, there are some good options that you can audition in a proper setup.

When I got into this crazy hobby, there was a dealer with lots of options in every budget category. I didn't have a lot of money at the time, but he still spent time with me and discounted things to help me out. I miss that guy. 

My advice is to do if you're gonna do it. How bad do you want the best sonics? Go large on the reserve funds to get other equipment after the speakers.

Before doing so much focus on another speaker & gear option I suggest to make sure the acoustics of the room are optimized. I recently made a change in my room and the impact was big. 

Word

Hello ritter06,

A bit late to the party here, but your post is a very familiar scenario to me and I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I had a set of speakers for many years that were great (Totem Acoustic Wind Design) , but still was interested in considering a new set of speakers. I did not own them as long as your B&W's, but was about 8 years and I was ready to consider a new set of speakers.  I live in a smaller town in Eastern Washington so I don't have local shops to listen to high end gear. I took a 4 day weekend and drove to the Seattle, Washington area to start searching for my new set of speakers. 

I had some brands in mind, but was open minded and just wanted to set out to listen to several pairs that I had not had the opportunity to entertain in the past. B&W and Focal were some of them at the top of my list.

I can be patient and an overthinker so I really didn't anticipate having a full conclusion and driving home with a set of speakers. I also anticipated I would hear several speakers that I liked, but maybe would have a hard time choosing what set sounded best to me when hearing so many... or a day later if the ones I liked yesterday were actually what I remember and so on. 

Long story short, I drove home on day 4 with a pair of Wilson Sasha 2's. There wasn't 1% of a doubt in my mind that the Wilsons were the speakers for me and to my ears sounded superior to the rest.... black and white. I was so thankful and excited to get home and listen to them.  I listened to B&W and Focal as those brands were at the top of my list, some that exceeded the price of the Sasha's and they were too bright/fatiguing and lacked the "real" that the Wilsons offered to my ears. We all hear differently of course, so many could have the same experience and feel differently. 

Just as you, I was nervous to sell my older speakers that I loved so I kept them until the new ones were in my home and I could listen in my environment. Within 1 minute of listening, I knew the old ones would be sold. Getting out there and spending the time to listen to options in person vs. trying to rely on reviews makes me feel super solid in my decision for the long run. It was a fun experience and hope the same for you. Who knows, maybe you getting out there just verifies how great your current speakers are and puts that "bug" to rest for many years... or you find a new pair and experience a whole new tier of listening like I did.