You may need to be prepared for a "tonal" change if you buy modern gear. Your generation of loudspeaker was designed before somr of the modern research and tools were available. Many of the speakers people here will recommend tend to have a flatish on-axis anechoic response and smooth off-axis behaviour. They are closer to neutral than many 80s and 90s British designs.
You have a point but the Tannoy M2 that TS has is in line with what you said about flatish on-axis if you can believe this. Test Tannoy M2:
The resulting averaged room-response curve was a very good ±2.5 dB from 45 Hz to 10 kHz, falling off above 10 kHz to about -8 dB at 20 kHz. We measured the horizontal directivity 1 foot from the tweeter, at angles of 45 degrees to either side, and averaged the two measurements. The off-axis curves were generally quite similar to the high-frequency rolloff of the room-response measurement.
Quasi-anechoic MLS frequency-response measurements at distances of 1, 2, and 3 meters confirmed the excellent dispersion and range of the speaker’s frequency response. Except for some irregularity at 9 kHz, which appears in all speakers we measure in this way and is obviously a measurement artifact, the speaker’s response was within +3 dB over the full measurement range of 300 Hz to 20 kHz.
www.hifi-classic.net
I have a pair of Tannoy M2 that I plug in sometimes. Quite ok but somehow boring. I want flatish on-axis and ..so I don't know what it is that I find boring, or mediocre is a better word, with them.
Maybe it's that they fall off so much after 10 kHz, maybe it's that the ferrofluid in mine has started to dry out that makes the tweeter boring. I don't know. They measure with Wiim and UMIK-1 in my room well, fairly flat without any major deviations.
In any case IF TS gets new bookshelf speakers, he should think about the differences in bass capacity between small speakers. For example, I consider the
Wharfedale Diamond 220 to be a better speaker, except for the bass where the Tannoy M2 is better. More, better punch. None of them are bass monsters but if you compare them to each other.
Subwoofer as
@OldHvyMec is talking about in the post abow might be something to consider.
Wharfedale Diamond 220 plus sub, well integrated with each other, gives (I can promise) a really good sensible super budget solution.
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Diamond 220 from the British speaker company, Wharfedale. I purchased the set for this review from Amazon for US $199 including free shipping. The 220 comes with inset covers for each driver, giving it a classy look despite its low cost. Here...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Speaking of bass. ADAM Audio's active studio monitors usually have good bass for their size. For example these:
The ADAM Audio T7V Active Speakers are nearfield monitors ($500/pair). We reviewed them to determine IF they sound as good as they look and IF they serve home audio applications as well as the studio.
www.audioholics.com
Since they are active, use the NAD 3130 as just a pre amp with them, alternatively sell it and buy, for example, the Fosi Audio P4 pre amp that I recommended in #8 above.
