Best Loudspeakers for Rich Timbre?

Spending $10 on cables would get anyone nowhere, unless you steal these cables and $10 is your taxi bill.
It is remarkable that many don't understand that cables are components, they are equally important. Another mistake is to think that they are easier to design than electronics, speaking of high level.
How to best stretch your dollar when upgrading cannot be answered in general, sometimes it should be active component upgrade, sometimes cables or power cords, and yet at times either would be a correct path, just different.

Roger that. With my ARC Ref 6 and Ref 150SE, cabling made a huge difference. In my room, for my ears, with my gear, Cardas Clear speaker cable and Cardas Clear Beyond XLR's made everything "right", It was nothing less than shocking how much difference I heard among some pretty well respected cables. I've said this elsewhere in this forum-I suspect that those who don't hear much difference between cables have equipment that for one reason or another don't put much demand on cabling. I believe that both the ARC pieces do in terms of getting the best out of the preamp and that the DeVore's do in terms of getting the best out of the amp. The truth of timbre was apparent with some but not all of the competitors but with the Cardas, timbre and spacial relationships and transients and bass weight all reached new heights. I don't sell Cardas. I am not in the biz. There are quite likely other brands of cables that would have done the same job. 
As I interpret Prof's point, you have to distinguish between color saturation and accurate timbre. As an owner of DeVore O/93's I would say that they do a blend of both. I wish I could say otherwise, but they are not the last word on timbral accuracy. But they portray timbre in a believable way and they ever so slightly emphasize timbre. I'm not sure who it was, but one of S'Phile's reviewers criticized the DeVore O series as sounding a bit "woody". I reluctantly agree, but I have come to find it a virtue and not a defect. The woodiness is so slight and complimentary to virtually everything played that it reminds me of the importance of judiciously implemented oak in wine. It is not perfectly neutral but perfectly neutral in audio is a) not realistic and b) not particularly enjoyable. It's not realistic because playing back a performance though two loudspeakers is never going to be totally realistic. Compensation is necessary to create the illusion of recreating the original. 

This is interesting stuff. I will grant that absent near field listening, timbre and reverberant energy are to a degree intertwined. The topic needs to be assessed with the idea of "average listening rooms". Most but not all speaker designers design their speakers for real world conditions in average listening rooms. To do otherwise is commercial hari-kari. With this in mind, and with the concept of all real-world speakers being comprised of strengths and weaknesses, design goals and compromises, the topic of truth of timbre divorced from all this conversation about room design is a valid one. That said, I am skeptical that any DSP, present or future, can make a badly designed-for truth of timbre-speaker sound like a timbre champ. I am very biased. I bought my Devore 0/93's when I heard them at Don Better's home based listening room with my vinyl copy of Gillian Welch's The Harrow and the Harvest playing on Don's SPU-equipped deck and could hear the strings of David Rawlngs guitar hit my brain with the texture of his Martin Darco 80/20 bronze light strings sounding just as haunting and full of soul and ghosts as he could possibly wish to convey. I know that my Devore 0/93's have their strengths and weaknesses. There's a slight discontinuity in the midrange that bothers me at times. But for truth of timbre over most of the frequency range, in an average listening room like mine, it is a champ. 

@fsonicsmith Have you heard the Audio Note AN-E's, which just happen to be Devore's principal inspiration? To my ears the originals are still the best in that category that matters to you, truth of timbre.

No, but I would like to. Next year I hope to attend the Chicago show and that will likely be my best opportunity. Without discounting your statement/opinion, I know that Art Dudley has heard both and he prefers Devore. My listening preferences tend to mirror his. 

Having owned Adagios, they are a great speaker, but based upon a long history listening to them, I think that transmission lines mated to mid-woofers tend to have rather bloated, "blubbery" bass at the break-up frequency, right around 45 hz or so. It is easily overlooked, but once you recognize the sound, it is hard to completely ignore. My Devore O/93's don't disappear in the room as well as the Adagios, but they don't break up in the low bass. They are solid as a rock. Not that they go down to 20hz or shake the rafters but they stay true to form with taut bass. There is no discernible "flub". Having a 10" paper woofer from SEAS in a tuned, rear ported cabinet IMO most likely accounts for the difference. I used aftermarket outriggers with deep piercing brass spikes with the Adagios which ameliorated the problem but did not eliminate it. I spent untold hours getting the positioning just right with the Adagios. With the Devores, all you need to do is place them with their integral little wood block feet and play around for maybe an hour with positioning and the sound is glorious. At least in my room with my gear. 

As good as the various designs were there was only one loudspeaker there that left me unable to find any fault sonically, and that was the Kerr Acoustic K320 (https://www.kerracoustic.com/k320)

Interesting; other than having a single mid-woofer instead of two in a D'Appolito configuration, this speaker is very similar to the Acoustic Zen Adagio which admittedly, is something of a classic performance-to-price bargain. 

IMHO, Audiokinesis has added more useful insight into the attainment of true timbre than anyone else. Sure, it helps to have a "rich timbre" speaker to begin with, but despite all the evidence and professional agreement, the average audiophile refuses to work the room as advised by Jim Smith and so many others. What percentage of audiophiles have dedicated 2 channel listening rooms with no flat screen in between the speakers, room treatment on the walls and ceiling at first reflection points, and loudspeakers placed well out into the room with best sound as the only criteria? 2%? Then add having the equipment rack to the side rather than between the speakers and elimination of parallel sidewalls and you come down to what, .01%?

Well, I do have the dedicated listening room with sound treatment on the walls and ceiling at the first reflection points and corner traps. I have sound treatment on the front wall between my DeVore 0/93's. My speakers are positioned for best sound well into the room. I do however have my equip rack up against the front wall. The prospect of long speaker cables snaking around the corner of the room from the side (I use Cardas Clear, not cheap) is just too daunting. And I have a room with parallel walls because once again, I am out there but not that out there. For those that can afford to configure a room with non-parallel walls, good for them. They are at the margins of the margins. 

Ralph; I hope my DeVore O/93’s are on your list of the speakers that meet your preferred characteristics. But be that as it may, I want to add that I made timbre my number one pursuit when I had my last go-round with equipment upgrades. Based on my experimentation, everything makes a difference including-"crap, not again!" cabling. I hate to bring up past beaten-to-death topics but with my ARC Ref6 and Ref 150SE, the cabling between the preamp and amp was critical. The more I invested in cable, the better timbre sounded. I settled on Cardas Clear Beyond. I know you are firmly of the opinion that a properly designed preamp and amp running true balanced obviates the need for elaborate cable, and if you wish to malign ARC as then being sub-optimally designed, I can take that criticism. The very same thing held true with speaker cable. Every speaker cable I tried sounded markedly different. I know all of this makes the average person want to shrug off an impending headache. It is easier to say that this is all a bunch of nonsense. The truth lies somewhere and whether one chooses to search for it or accept what is easy as "truth" is up to each individual.