Upgrade amp. or speakers first?


I have a Krell KAV 300i, and a pair of B&W N804's, all about 12 years old. Want to upgrade and want to know which should be first to go. The speakers or the amp? I listen to mostly jazz, some small scale classical, and R&B. I am leaning towards the 803D's or 804D's. Will budget up to 8k for amplifier(s). I have listened to some McIntosh, the new ARC integrated and Rotel amps. I recently got an Ayre QB-9 for digital source ( ITunes-Macbook ). Will upgrade, but not all at once. Thanks for any suggestions.
atj2

Showing 1 response by inna

We have two schools of thought talking here. But both are in agreement that it is the amp/speakers match that counts.
I would audition many different combinations, find the most satisfactory and then begin the upgrade in any order depending on price, mood, dealer's attitude etc. Or would wait and get both at the same time.
Personally I tilt a little towards "speaker school" and tend to think of speakers (and the room)as musical instruments. After all I have Michael Green free resonance speakers - not the last word in resolution and many other aspects of sound reproduction but they play in a very natural way with any amplification I tried.