Something to try and keep in mind, its the little details of setup and tweaks that can make the difference between a really cheap system that sings and a really expensive system that sucks. I haven't read the Jim Smith book, my pick would be Robert Harley's Complete Guide to High End Audio, but I gather that is pretty much his theme. If its not it should be.
The most captivating system I ever built was $1200. Speakers, integrated, CDP, interconnect, speaker cables, power cords, cones under everything. All-in, $1200. Done for my father in law, set up in my listening room to burn-in, sounded so good I listened to it every chance I could until it had to come out to go to his place.
The Vandersteen Model 1 you have is very well regarded. But you're driving it with a receiver. When you go out and compare, I think you will be surprised how awful just about every receiver sounds compared to just about any integrated amp. But same goes for the lamp cord, patch cords, and power cord they throw in the box for free. Which you are probably using. Which of these to tackle first is something that is probably a puzzle now, that will seem to solve itself at some point when you've compared enough. For now pat yourself on the back for having a really nice pair of speakers. Most guys never get even one good component early on, so you got that going for you.
The most captivating system I ever built was $1200. Speakers, integrated, CDP, interconnect, speaker cables, power cords, cones under everything. All-in, $1200. Done for my father in law, set up in my listening room to burn-in, sounded so good I listened to it every chance I could until it had to come out to go to his place.
The Vandersteen Model 1 you have is very well regarded. But you're driving it with a receiver. When you go out and compare, I think you will be surprised how awful just about every receiver sounds compared to just about any integrated amp. But same goes for the lamp cord, patch cords, and power cord they throw in the box for free. Which you are probably using. Which of these to tackle first is something that is probably a puzzle now, that will seem to solve itself at some point when you've compared enough. For now pat yourself on the back for having a really nice pair of speakers. Most guys never get even one good component early on, so you got that going for you.