A sub won't help with guitar solos. You need to consider your room size before changing speakers - how big is it? - but if things are deteriorating in several areas when you turn up the volume, that sounds more like an amp issue - struggling to maintain control.
Unhelpful though it might seem, demoing is the next step. If you have a friendly dealer (or better still a local Richer Sounds) you could maybe take your speakers in and see how they sound with other kit.
Agreed.
I sometimes put in a suggestion as I will with the QA 3050i for a budget floorstander as it's what I liked after many a demo
Very good bass and big soundstage etc etc, they for once reflected on the reviews and various awards won.
Q Acoustics reaffirms its position of pre-eminence in the midrange floorstander market.
www.whathifi.com
A speaker failure in my second hifi caused me to upgrade from them and move them over from my main hifi as the replacements already knowing how good they are.
It cost substantially more to better them with their replacements, they punch way above their weight.
I demoed the new Arcam radia series and a few others whilst looking for new speakers and found them very good as predictably with the little mission 778x but there in lays the problem that's to my ears.
I've always liked Arcams "house sound" and liked mission's sound in amps and earlier speakers since my childhood, but inline with "12 th monkey" it's about what you like.
I've bought blind on reviews alone a few times usually when it's one of those one off bargains to be had to find both I like whatever or on occasion had the slog of sending it back etc.
With richer sounds and the like the former offering at home demos with kit on a lone there's not a reason why you can't get exactly what you want via (and perhaps enjoy) the demo process.
This ensures you've spent on what you personally like.
Suffice to say a point in the right direction and the compiling a shortlist hastens things up.