Old fart needs help with speakers and power req's


I'm not an audiophile,just a guy who loves music. I'm trying to build a system with about $7,000. I'm thinking of 4,000 for speakers. After reading thru the specs in stereophile buyers guide 2010, I see the NAD C375BEE (int amp $1300) as my benchmark for power vs money (it's actually less than $1 per watt). In other words I can't spend much more than 1300 on power. So now that gives me 150 wpc to work with. So now to the speakers; my only real requirement is they sound at least as good as what I've got now. And here's where you guys will get a good laugh.
I've been listening to the same speakers for 35 years with the same power and source for 25. They are (you ready for this) 4 JBL L100's (yes 2 on left and 2 on right) driven by a Yamaha A700(int amp 100 wpc) and a Sony PS T3 turntable.
My listening room is only 12x14 open at one end.
So where is the question?, there are two, what in your opinion are the best speakers (I know this is subjective) I can get for 4000 or less that will actually "sing" at 150 wpc, and a kicker, could I get away with less power if I went tube (realizing with tube I can only get about 60wpc-Jolida $1300)? And last but not least I would rather stay away from sub-woofers if I can, I'm not even sure where they came from; of course with 60 inches of woofer in my living room I may not be able to. I hope I've not been to confusing here I've never posted on anything before. Thanks for your help.
246810
Blindjim's advice is good, for somebody who has an idea of what is out there and is comfortable making a deal sight unseen for products they may have never heard. I agree with Rleff and Stanwal that you really need to do some "ears-on" research to get an idea of how current products in the marketplace compare to what you already have. I strongly suggest going out and doing some research before you make a major investment in this or any other Internet market, unless you relish trial and error by mail and bank account.

Another point - I took a twenty year hiatus from the hi fi marketplace, and when I returned, the most important thing I have learned from sites like this is the criticality (word?) of physical set up and your listening room are as important as the equipment itself. You may be able to increase your enjoyment of your current system by 100% by setting your speakers away from the back wall and adjusting the separation optimally to your listening position. Also, isolating some of your gear with even crude measures like heavy hard wood cutting boards and blocks, blutack, sorbothane dots, spikes, etc. can have surprisingly positive effects on system performance.

The second thing is that better wires often do sound better - again, just upgrading to well designed but inexpensive interconnects and speaker cables from Internet providers like Signal Cable and Blue Jeans Cables can add to your overall enjoyment and the performance of your current or new systems. When you go listen in the showroom, be sure to look behind the gear on demo to see how and with what it is connected together. Sometimes you can get gear home and it doesn't sound like it did in the store - because in part it does not have $4000 of cabling hooking it together. For your demo, make sure the sales person sets it up with wiring that is also within your budget.

Good luck. If you look at this as an adventure, it can be fun and highly educational for your ears, and perhaps actually save you some money and time in the end.
You know if you read thru this it's like a primer on thinking thru putting together a system and dealing with the way they are presented these days. I can't thank you guys enough for "taking the time" to walk me thru this. I now have an idea of how to approach this (and use this site).
One thing I miss Stringreen is the live music of old, most (not all) concert venues now are to big for me.
Would that old live music be like Frank Sinatra at the Sands with Count Basie;more of a 200-300 people?
There are always great recordings both cd and better yet to me LP.
Yes like that and even smaller, saw him (and a lot of others) at Mr. Kelly's (and Plugged Nickel) in Chicago. Even the Kinetic Playground, the music was much closer to you in those days.