Which to Upgrade first? My Amplifier or Speakers

I’m with Mozartfan...speakers make the system. Easily proven. A great set of speakers (and a good room) fed from a ok mid fi CD player will still sound very good. You can’t fix crap speakers with a great front end. All of this of course in my opinion only.

FWIW,

I tried to power Maggie 1.7's with a Mac integrated 6300 at 100 wpc and it was bland. I tried a Krell 300Si at 150 wpc and it regularly shut down because it could not handle the panels.

I powered Maggie 3.6's  with a W4S ST 1000 (500 wpc) and  it played loud but did not control the panels. I switched to a Coda amp at 300 wpc and it was much, much better. I added a Magnepan bass panels and then gave up. 

I switched to Thiels (3.6's and then 5.0's). Just better bass and heft to my ear.

If you like the Maggies, get a strong amp that doubles down. 

Just my opinion.

Thanks for listening,

Dsper

As an X maggie owner 3.5Rs, I do not believe they are your weak link. An incredible amp that should knock your socks off with them or just about any other speaker is Ric Schultz EVS 1200. I have a Agon thread if you care to investigate. I wish I had this amp when I had the 3.5Rs

thread: Life with RIc Schultz EVS 1200

hth

The solution is quite simple; speakers first. The reason is that should you upgrade the amp you will only see a different flavor of the current speaker's performance. However, should you upgrade the speakers to a different genre, ie. horn hybrid, you will have made a sea change in the system that no amp can duplicate. 

Do not overlook changing genres of speakers. Maggies are lovely for certain aspects of sound reproduction, but they are also weaker in other areas; I know whereof I speak as a former Maggie owner and reviewer. Different genres of speakers, such as the aforementioned horn hybrids, can do things such as dynamics that shame even mid-size maggies. You owe it to yourself to hear some of these other speakers. If you wish to discuss any of the speakers I show on my system here, or have reviewed for Dagogo.com, feel free to contact me. 

I am currently reviewing a full range hybrid speaker that has similar capacity in terms of definition retrieval to a panel, but has capabilities in terms of dynamics that far outstrip Magnepan, and even the Kingsound King III ESL speakers. I suggest that you do not let use/non-use of the subwoofer be a determinant in what direction you go in terms of speaker. Having worked with subs often I would not let them be the determinant of what kind of speaker I would select. 

Further, you may still enjoy the amp with the new speakers and feel contented that you do not need to upgrade it. Having been through such things many times, I believe that if you upgrade the amp first, you will soon be itching to upgrade speakers, too, and will ensure potentially spending far more on the project than you have to. 

Finally, perhaps you are one of the few, the abundantly blessed with $ and space to have it all. Perhaps you can keep the Maggies AND add a new speaker of a different genre. Trust me, this is a sensational way to participate in the hobby, a literal form of having it all. The means of being able to flip speakers and hear a rig fundamentally differently at will is a fantastic form of variety imo not to be missed if one has the means. 

As usual, to the community, YMMV 

douglas you are 100% WRONG
 
These are excellent speakers but very fussy about the amp driving them
I first experienced this when I has Genesis Vs some 15 years ago. I tired several amps before getting a KBA 75, which grabbed them by the balls, and made them perform up to their glowing reviews said.

Of late, I had 3 different class D amps prior to getting the EVS 1200, which similarly brought a whole new appreciation for my speakers