I think you need to upgrade both.
A lot of people will say that the speaker is the most important component but I tend to disagree. I think the front end is the most important followed by the line stage and amp. I have heard mediocre speakers (polk, psb) sound excellent with a good front end (CAL, Theta, Jeff Rowland.) For 500 bucks you could buy an excellent used amp (aragon, PS Audio, NAD) or integrated. Then you get into something like Vandersteen 2ce's for another 500 and Boom! close to Hi-Fi and light years better than what you've got now.
oh yeah-Don't forget about cables (another 200-400 bucks.)
One good purchase motivates the other and justifies the cost. Its not a painful purchase if the improvement is obvious.
-Karl
A lot of people will say that the speaker is the most important component but I tend to disagree. I think the front end is the most important followed by the line stage and amp. I have heard mediocre speakers (polk, psb) sound excellent with a good front end (CAL, Theta, Jeff Rowland.) For 500 bucks you could buy an excellent used amp (aragon, PS Audio, NAD) or integrated. Then you get into something like Vandersteen 2ce's for another 500 and Boom! close to Hi-Fi and light years better than what you've got now.
oh yeah-Don't forget about cables (another 200-400 bucks.)
One good purchase motivates the other and justifies the cost. Its not a painful purchase if the improvement is obvious.
-Karl