Hey guys need help with speaker upgrade..

IMHO. . .A pair of Vandersteen 2ce Sig series new (or used) or Vandersteen 3A Sigs (used) would fit your budget and be hard to beat. See if you can audition a pair. Happy Listening,

I think you are going to get a million answers. Do you already have some speakers in mind?

I would probably upgrade CD player and interconnects first. You said you like Snells.

I do not have speakers in mind although I just auditioned a pair of magnepan 1.6qr's and although I loved the mids and hi's i felt the low end was missing also the room for the demo was tiny the speakers were no more than 4 feet apart, which i think might have had something to do with it. thoughts?

Unless a small room is treated, bas can be a problem, but the 1.6s are not going to be great bass performers in any room. Given your amp and room size, I do think the Vandersteen 2 or 3s recommended would be a good starting point for a point of reference at the price point, and the 3s especially have very good bass at the price point - they also have a lot of dealers so you might actually be able to audition them. No two speakers could be more different the Maggies and Vandersteen, but there are many, many happy owners of both brands - the two will tell you alot about the type of sound you will gravitate towards.