Welcome!
Yes, Jim Salk is a terribly nice guy and does fantastic veneering work. He uses quality drivers, Dennis Murphy to design crossovers (although Dennis is not in good health), and Paul Kittinger of DIY fame to design the cabinets (many of his speakers use the advanced transmission line concept). His internet direct sales method saves money compared to the traditional bricks and mortar approach. Unfortunately too many buy based on looks versus sound, which unless you can conduct a decent audition (certainly not at an audio show) is hard to do. So you're left with reading consumer and professional reviews and trying to glean from them what you can.
I'd say you'll have a hard time substantially bettering the Gungnir/Adam A7X pairing. (I'm an active speaker fan too.) Would recommend reading Floyd Toole's "Sound Reproduction" 3rd edition, the consummate audiophile guide for learning how speakers behave in-room before buying more gear. If possible find a decent (not tiny or squarish) dedicated room and go from there. When we built 15 years ago I got a "my room" in the basement and designed it for audio: proper shape (Fibonacci ratios); sized as big as possible (limited by ceiling height); insulated it (walls, ceiling, door, ductwork, electrical); then treated it (ten GIK 244 panels - they have a circle here at AC, 3 tall randomly filled bookcases - to act as casual diffusers, and 3 carefully placed subs to limit inherent in-room bass peaks/dips).
