There are speakers that fit your listening style that are well designed. I'm sure its hard coming from towers that had big bass drivers to look at other options. Depending on your needs for SPL smaller towers and bookshelves can be quite potent using subs. If your gonna drop 1k on a used mac preamp, consider looking at speakers from JTR and Seaton before hand. We just unpacked new speakers yesterday and they will be driven by a $599 denon avr and a $800 QSC pro amp. Aside from the cool factor of mac, it's the speakers that make the difference in the end. I've owned many pieces of esoteric gear thru the years and was always pleased, just dont need the "look" to achieve great sound. It's a fun hobby, enjoy!