Should I try to improve speakers at $2000.00 range

I tried a number of speakers, at a lower price point than yours, but ended up with a pair of Snell K/IIs. Liked them so much, I grabbed a pair of J/IIs off Ebay and couldn't be happier. Older isn't necessarily better, but sometimes old can be very, very good.

Make that $3k instead of $2k and you will have probably one hundred good speakers to choose from that will better what you have now. Used, of course. I would never save much on speakers upgrades; $2k or $3k should not really be a point. Save on something else like lunch and drinks.

Doug
You are right on. I can hear the shrill of those aluminum tweeters while I am typing this.....Ouch!

And... I mention the Quad ESL 57's and no one even gives them a thumbs up....
If I wasn't a dealer I would surely have a pair.

Johnny Audioconnection, Wow!, don't you think a disclaimer is in order?

Nostalgia kills great audio aspirations. Sometimes I get stupid and go for a nostalgia purchase; bad move in terms of sound. About two years ago I saw some Mission speakers nearby - had to get them. I ended up selling them about three months later since they didn't sound good. I've had a lot of vintage/nostalgia gear and without fail it all goes away since it never measures up. Working with older gear intentionally to develop one's best system makes it virtually impossible to accomplish the task.

Budgetary constraints are an absolutely valid consideration, but aside from that variable I don't believe I would ever seek older gear (i.e. past 3-4 years) to build my best rigs. You let yourself get off the pace of innovation and things fall apart sonically fairly quickly.