I had a pair of Alons for 25 years that were great and I had to replace the paper woofers about 8 years in. I liked them a lot and changed quite unexpectedly just before Covid hit because I came across a close out deal on a pair of brand new KEF R500s for $1700. I improved their sound dramatically by tossing the spikes/discs KEF gives you and put Symposium Segue platforms under them that really focused the sound and cleaned them up.
I don't like buying Chinese made speakers but they were at least designed in Britain and they have better bass (and overall detail) than the Alons but when you are very close (changing records) because they are not open at the tweeter level, don't sounds as good for a few seconds when I walk away. There are always tradeoffs. Because they make their own drivers and have tremendous economies of scale the value is undeniable. To get a noticeable improvement I would probably have to splurge for an $8K (list) or more pair of speakers, probably discounted to around $5K or more.
I enjoy improving other parts of my system and trying to get the maximum out of the speakers, which is impossible in my non-dedicated listening room, but that is the never ending journey. Only changing one thing (especially inexpensive things like vibration control) enables me to judge the improvement, which often surprises me how much or little the sound was improved.
Admittedly, I probably have allocated a much smaller % of my total system investment in speakers than the vast majority of 'Goners, but you can only degrade the sound when you go down the signal path, and I've spent about 50%+ on my turntable/cartridge/phono stage/Townshend platform/wall shelf/Hexmat eclipse mat. I have listened to a much more expensive pair of KEFs and didn't hear much of a difference. I was told the demo room did not have a good enough amp to get the most out of them. I considered a fairly big upgrade to Vienna Acoustics (close outs) who was leaving the US market, and even those, I was told (by an honest salesman at TMR) that I might not like them as much and I could return them, but the trial cost of shipping would have been $600 (can't remember if that was for 2 trips or one).
I guess I have 20 years to go on these KEFs.....although you never know. With the platform upgrade to the speakers it really makes me hesitate.