Always hard to assess what expenditure is the “next logical step” for an AV system...
Definitive Technology has several tiers of speakers at different price points, several of which would be extremely hard to say are “inferior” to similarly priced options from companies like Ascend Acoustics...

Depending upon current rcvr or prepro & amp the 976 and appropriate Outlaw amp might be more of a “step-up”...

I have Def Tech SM 65 LCR and SM 55 surrounds. I wanted to move on to Ascend Sierra 2's LCR and Sierra Luna surrounds. They have the famous RAAL Ribbon tweeter.