Upgrading bose 301's .. the next step ?

Screw the 602's new for $600 and used for $400.Get a pair of B&W 805 Matrix III's for $800-1K.602's are too bloated on botom.Late Model 805's or a pair of Joseph 7's.If you had 100 plus SS watts than the Maggies would be great.But you will want some thing that is 89db sensitive or better @ 8 ohms with that amp.Don't move to quickly deals are out there.Picked up my $2600 tweaky german speakers for $875.

For the 805s to sound good, plan on spending $300 to $500 for decent stands. If we are talking used for 1k max then I would go for the original B&W CDM-1 or CDM-1NT (don't care for the CDM-1SE that came in between).

Don't use the B&W's with a great vintage tube amp, no matter what they say the cdm's and especially the matrix 805's are little power hogs, don't forget to factor in some long green for some sturdy speaker stands, the 602's can induce vomiting and wopuld be a criminal waste of good tubes. You need an efficient speaker like the beautiful meadowlark kestrel, easy to drive and will givw you a reasonable bass with a low powered tube amp. They are much better than the PSB's and sounstage like crazy. The Reynauds are french, hey viva La France but for bang for buck look no further than sunny California. and don't forget a tasty new SACD player. Sony 333es $550 at Oade Bros.............Hey have some fun!

The suggestion by Newkstime (a Sonny Rollins fan, perhaps?) regarding the Meadowlark Kestrels is a good one. I forgot to mention it in my list above. The other speaker that I should have listed that has gotten favorable reviews is the Totem Arro, which sells new for about $1100.

i use the 805 matrix with a cj mv52 45wpc tube amp and have plenty of volume in a moderately sized room 14x24 they sound wonderfull you can pick them up used for 800-1k