What speakers do you recommend?

You should also listen to B&W N803 and Audio Physic Virgo. Out of the speakers you heard and these two it would be hard not to end up with something very good.

I don't think you can go wrong with either of your considerations, and yet you might want to try the Dunlavy
line of speakers. In my 30+ years in this hobby I've not
heard better.

dchristy- Checkout the Coincident Speaker Tech line. They are exceptional, especially with tube amplification. I'd recommend their Eclipse line, rather than the Victory. Just MHO. Good luck.

My first recommendation would be to sell the amps and add the money to your speaker budget to buy a pair of active ATC 50's internally powered speakers. If you're set on the amps, go with a pair of passive ATC 20's. ATC won the 2001 Stereophile Guide to Home Theater system of the year for 2001. I live in Denver and there's a dealer here that demo's them. I just bought 3 ATC 100's for across the front of my home theater. Truly jaw dropping...

what arent the snells doing? i have never heard them but just from your comments....i might look at your front end. a better source would give more detail; body; etc. the difference will be shocking. (you are limiting the granite and snells with the nad) i moved from an nad player to a cal 15 on my first series of upgrades....night and day.

you might audition a cal;wadia;resolution audio (just a few of the ones that have gain out that i know of) and try them first and see if you are getting closer to your desired sound. also try replacing your tubes with nos (tunsol 6550 for the kt88). you will see a big difference there. doing a few of these things might save you some money and make you happier. the best speaker in the world fed with an ok source will just sound ok. (been there and done that)

my musical listen tastes are somewhat different now a days but i heard some vandy 5s really rock from kt88 rouge monos.
lots of slam. (i have merlin vsm-m's and love them...not enough slam for rock...top notch on everything esle)

good luck

You should without question audition a pair of Verity Audio Fidelios. I auditioned the new Virgo 3--very disappointed, not enough down low, and I am using a BATVK75SE, BATVK50SE.The Fidelios have an unreal soundstage, midrange to die for, the same one they use in the $15000 Parsifal, which I ended up buying--only because I got a great deal on a pair, otherwise it would have been the Fidelio. Low end on the Fidelio if great, full, but tight not bloated. Placement nowhere as tricky as Virgo. I have seen used Fidelios for around $5000.00. Good luck!

Thiel CS2.3 or Tannoy D700

The slim VR-3.5's would be a great fit based on your room size and equipment. They image as well as Quads yet offer a great off-axis wide soundstage, and have the wallop and punch to deliver effortless dynamic low-end in spite of their relative small driver size.
See at www.vonschweikert.com

Jack

Very simply and inexpensively, and without hesitation, the Paradigm Reference Studio 100s. i have a room situation like yours (14x16 actually) and they sound fantastic no matter where I put them - hence I dont need to have them in the middle of the room. Had Dunlavy Cantatas and B&W 802s before finding MUSICAL perfection in the 100s. The other two were seriously close competitors but the Paradigm is smoother in general (none of the 802s' shrill highs and no need to take up the whole room like the Cantatas) and is MUCH cheaper to boot! My search is over for many years to come - love them daily.