Yet another looking to change/upgrade - suggestions?

[Axel]

Following a recent house move I am dealing with a similar problem.  I've been auditioning replacements for my B&W 802Ds and at the moment the Wilson Benesch Vector is in pole position.  IMHO, they're a magical combination with my D400 in a room of similar size to yours, and at ~£8.1K well inside your budget.  They sounded much bigger than expected with good top to bottom integration and top class dynamics (they remind me of a certain other "Wilson" speaker company).  Also, to my eyes, they are a good match aesthetically with the Devialets.

Also worth considering are PMC with their ATL transmission lines.  I'm currently trying some Fact 12s which are working well in my room; tight and surprisingly deep bass (sans SAM).

My listening room is also relatively small (4.5m by 3.5m) and The speakers have to be fairly close to the back wall. I notice that the Wilson Benesch Vector has a rear firing port. Does this cause any problems? I have been toying with the idea of an upgrade. At the moment I have ProAc D20Rs (downward firing port) On my list is the B&W 804 D3 (front firing) and Magico S1 (infinite baffle), but I'd listen to anything suitable.

My listening room is the same size as yours and I have no issues with my ProAc Response D30R speakers.

What I really like about the ProAc Response speaker design, is their down-firing port.  First off, since it's down-firing, it's not affected by how close they are to the wall behind them (mine are 0.15m).  Plus, the down-firing port is designed with a "platform" and it does not just fire to the floor itself therefore, bass will not be affected if your floor has carpeting or not.

I think it's a very small & efficient design and has been working great for me!  Plus, in my smallish room, I also have SAM at 100% and the bass goes very deep but it's very well controlled (not boomy at all).  You should have a serious look at ProAc.

Agreed, the ProAcs are great speakers and, apart from the downward firing port, the thing I really like is the sound of the ribbon tweeters.
 I have my SAM set to only 20% though, although room acoustics/furnishing/speaker placement will have a big effect on bass response. Also, I think the bass/ mid driver in the D30R  is different better than the one in the D20R. Perhaps I should have (had) a listen to some 30s!?