B&W Speakers

i fully agree w stringreen. if i had 5k to spend, i wouldn't be looking at b&w.

I've had a pair of 603's as my first pair of speakers and then the 703's. Either one sounded too bright to me, though I don't doubt that they are good speakers. Guess the 800 series might be better but if you do a search on here you'll find that I'm not the only one who found them to be a bit forward sounding, though I believe people found that to be the case with the aluminum dome tweeters, yet not with the diamond ones.

I agree with Stringreen that there are many other brands out there that are just as good or better. Personally I currently have a pair of Living Voice Avatars and like them a lot better. My girlfriend, who isn't really into this hobby immediately said that the Avatars are more musical and easier to listen to.

Guess try to find some dealers and audition whatever you can to at least hear something different as well.

stringreen is the man of the moment, another +1 here.

Rega ela?
might be a good choice. nice tight bass control in a small room.

After many listening sessions to B&W speakers (803N and 802D) I have an aversion to them. The midrange in particular is colored, a certain thickness (or the famous 'kevlar' sound) is distracting to me.

Sorry to be discouraging but that was my first though upon reading your post...