Battle of the affordables

@andy2 , MD has a pair of open box Focal N3 3 way floor standers marked down from $1299 each to $799 each, and if I was in the market I would be interested in giving them a spin.  (Actually, I am kind of in the market, but at the moment I am hanging on to my $.)

As far as the choices you did list, I am not familiar with them, but now, if it was me, what I would be interested in would be a sensitivity of above 90 and a nominal 8 ohm impedance that didn’t dip too low (and I am not sure how low "too low" is yet).

But I suppose a lot depends upon what you are going to be driving them with.

Again, if it was me, this time around I think I MIGHT be looking for a soft dome speaker (and the Focals I just listed are NOT that).  I am really intrigued by what I have read on this site about the Volti Razz (which is a horn tweeter)  (which I think might make it within the upper price limits of the parameters you listed) and I think that is what I may be saving my own nickels and times to try out.

As far as the B&Ws (you listed), B&W generally does not get a lot of love here.  I recently "upgraded" from my ancient B&W 805 Matrixes, and I actually loved them until I didn’t. I’d suggest auditioning the ones that you can audition in your home with your system.  

KEF first, Polk second. Your choices are all mass market brands, you might do a little more digging and see f there are some other brands that appeal to you. Amplification, musical preferences and typical volume levels matter as well. Some speakers can be hard to drive and really won’t show their true selves without the right amplifier. 

I have the KEF R7 Meta (the R11's were to big for my room) and am very pleased with them. The R11's were reviewed by Hi-fi News magazine and scored very well, in the high 80's, if I remember correctly. Well worth the audition.

Which one would you pick?

JBL S4700 see here 

Mike

People are making recommendations and they have no idea what the core system is.