Just my opinion but...

You will always gain the most from updating a transducer over a piece of solid state electronics. So my initial reaction is "speakers" will make the most difference.

You've got plenty of power and there's not much, if any, difference in sound between one solid state pre-amp section and another. So I still think "speakers."

But then comes the kicker: $1000 to spend.

Sure you can get a darn good pair of speakers for $1000. But you are already in possession of a pretty darn good pair of speakers in the Paradigms. While you could buy something that sounds "different" for $1000, I doubt that anything else will sound an awful lot "beter" - but that's always a matter of taste.

It does not hurt to go out and shop around and listen. But it looks to me like you are already pretty well off for listening to stereo music - and spending $1000 is not going to get you much more - sorry to say.

On this one I am sure that others might disagree.

Jeff Mackwood