Budget floorstanders under $500 ?

I do think the step sideways could be gaining some bass (that might not be all that well defined or might create room-interaction problems) while giving up some mid/high frequency refinement. For the music you listen to, I'd think a less musical midrange would be a big downside.

All the suggestions above are good ones, though I will say (though I love my Vandies) that the 1c probably wouldn't work in your room as you need to keep them away from boundaries and be able to sit 8 feet away from them (so the time and phase aligned drivers can come together by the time they reach your ears). Part of the reason I like KEFs is that they have a (more or less) point-source approach (tweeter mounted in the middle of the midrange driver) that gives them very even dispersion and great soundstaging--not very fussy in terms of where you sit in relation to them at all. Triangles and others, same thing essentially compared to Vandersteen--easy to use in the near-field.

The Vandersteen 1Cs mentioned above are an excellent choice. But for something a tad better look at the Meadowlark Audio Kestrels I have listed for $500.
Ok, so I'm biased. But I have owned the Vandys and they are good but for a room your size, the Kestrels are outstanding.
I was going to send you an email but thought why not be upfront with my shameless suggestion.

The Mission M72 is a much better speaker in regards to your observations of bass. I took a pair and Frankenstein-ed them with Auricaps, Audioquest Type 6 wire and rope caulked all of the corners and they were monsters considering I only paid $200 new for them. You might look for those or Frankenstein your M71s although I think the bass would still disappoint.

I just re-read your post, and noticed that you're driving the speakers with a Jolida 102b. That's a 25W amp.

Given that, I would consider Coincident Triumph UHS (monitor speakers). They're available used on the high end of your budget, maybe slightly higher ($600). But they have the sensitivity to handle the music you listen to with the Jolida. An alternative would be some used Klipsch speakers (you can find several models under $500 used).

If you sell the Jolida 102b and either upgrade within the Jolida family (ie, 302b) or switch to a high-value integrated (such as the Onkyo A9555 that's been getting a lot of press), then you'll find your options in speakers considerably wider.

Michael

Thanks for all the info. I've been looking into the Kef Q series since Ablang made the suggestion. Accessories4less.com (authorized Kef dealer) has the iQ3s for $300. On paper, I should get more mid bass with those and the price is right. As an experiment, I brought my B&W DM305 floorstanders up into my listening room and hooked them up to my Nuforce Icon. I didn't want to connect them to the Jolida because I've got a bad tube now. The Icon did a nice job driving the B&Ws but I lost a lot of the detail in the midrange and treble. I think I'll stick with monitors for that small room.

Incidentally, I used to own a set of Vandy 1B's. I think they'd totally overpower my small room based on the fact that the B&Ws seem to do so. I recall them being fairly laid back even though I drove them with a big old Carver M500T with 250 solid state wpc.