Room setting: new amp or new speakers?

I can recommend what I have; ASR Emitter 2 Exclusive amp and Quad 2912 ESL speakers. I would advise not to underestimate the value of having a great amp.

Sounds like Audio Note is really striking a chord with you — that’s a good sign.  Their speakers are very placement friendly and work well near walls, which may be a benefit in your situation I’m guessing. They also make excellent DACs if/when you get to that point.  Best of luck. 

Start with the most important part your sourse record, or digital  it’s the most important for Everything good or bad starts there once detail is lost it cannot 

be made up downstream , your node is a big weak spot god for the streamer 

signal upgrade your source a big upgrade l please remember 1/4 or less goes into 

the component ,being an audio dealers and in sales over 30 years 

that is the truth cables many times  mark up from the mfg ,Thst is why spending more  on a sourse and then speakers is monies well spent .

@soix

+1

Start with speakers. Then orient addition purchases to support them. You want additional component to break in and drive your next purchase decision unless you are wealthy enough and sure enough of what you are doing to purchase the speakers and all the new components at one time.

But everything requires breaking. I am a big fan of Sonus Faber speakers. I am on my third set after exploring the world of planar for many decades. Very natural and musical. It can be really helpful to go listen to some really good systems of different flavors to get a feel for where you want to end up. Natural / musical, highly detailed / flashy imaging system, muscular system that slams you in the chest. Very different end points possible.

My endpoint rule of thumb is 35% speakers, 15% amp, 20% preamp (yes you still need one), 15% amp and 15% streamer. Wait to invest in high quality interconnects and wires until later. It’ll take you a year to really know your system. I’d consider DHLabs for interim speaker cables and interconnects.

Both, really.

I had the Venere 1.5s in my home for a week, my local dealer let me try them. I don’t know why but they were very forgettable, to put it politely - completely lifeless.

I have the same feeling for your Yamaha model, far from the potential to provide you with a lot of joy. (If it were Denon from the late 90s, I’d be excited)

You could get some money for the speakers and that would let you buy an integrated amp too. NAD, Cambridge Audio, Quad, Rotel have decent, quality models in the $800 range. (Although you may not be in the US but the prices must be comparable)

For speakers, Audio Notes is one of the most the highly regarded brands for sure - and easy to drive. If you want to be overwhelmed: https://speakerchoices.com/