"The only thing lacking in the N804s is a more robust bass"
I was doing some consulting work for a high-end audio dealer in the early 2000s and got to hear the 804s directly compared to several other brands. I don't mean this to be a jerk, but the 804s more often than not fell short in several areas other than the bass. A lot of speakers sound just fine until you compare them to something else, so I think getting out to audition other speakers is a great idea. And good dealers will often let you borrow speakers to bring home for a day or two that would be even better.
To get specific, there was virtually nothing the Joseph Audio RM25s did not do markedly better than the 804s. The highs were as detailed but more refined, midrange was clearer and more open sounding, the imaging and soundstaging were on another planet, they disappeared more readily as a sound source, and the bass went considerably deeper and with more impact (although the RM25s themselves are still not bass monsters -- they only go to the low 30s -- it's just the 804s are relatively quite limited in this area). Obviously this is just my opinion that may be very different from what you hear, but Joseph Audio is one you should check out if you can while you're out and about. Others off the top of my head that would be worth checking out if they're available near your area:
- Silverline
- Reference 3A
- Von Schweikert
- KEF
- Usher
- PMC
Legacys get good reviews (so do the models listed above), but ribbon tweeters can be polarizing and personally I wouldn't want to deal with shipping speakers back if they don't work out -- but then agian that's me. Your speakers are now about 12 years old and there have obviously been lots of improvements over that time (including the 804s themselves) so you may well find this in the end to be more than just a bad case of GAS -- Gear Acquisition Syndrome as you put it. Anyway, have fun getting out there and hearing lots of speakers and hope this helps in some way. Best of luck.
