Plinius SA250 or Gamut D200

You could expect some improvement in clarity by filling the stands, but I agree with your assumption that the CJ 2500 is the problem. I owned one and just couldn't find enough excitement in it. My recommendation is to stick with your plan to replace it. The tweaks that have been suggested are good ones but they won't overcome the problem of a laid back amp.

Satyam,

I could never find a solid state amp that matched the sound of tubes. The CJ was advertised as being close, and it was...just not very lively. In all fairness, it might mate well with the right equipment but the easiest route for me was to go with tubes.

As an alternate, you may want to consider the Butler A100, a hybrid tube/solid state amp. It is rated at 100/200 wpc at 8/4 ohms, and is in absolute control of every speaker I've heard it with. They figured out how to use a 300B tube DC coupled in the output stage with no output transformer. If your budget can handle it, I would definitely go that route. You can read the review at Six Moons or on the Butler site at http://www.butleraudio.com/main.html.

Good luck in your search.