Best small 2-way floorstander?


I'm looking to upgrade (sooner or later, I guess) my excellent minimonitors (Merlin TSM-SE) for some small floorstanders. Please share any thoughts on your vote of the "best of the best" in this category and if you think they work best with tubes or solid state. So far I've got the Merlin VSM-SE's or Kharma Ceramique 3.0s on the short list. I do give the edge to Kharma in the looks department, though. They look absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for your input!
hifinut604
Sdcampbell, the third mini monitor i love, is the Aliante Pininfaria. This speaker look and sounds awesome. I saw a couple of people on Audiogon selling them. Here's a great pic of the Aliante Pininfaria http://www.aliante.com/aliproin.htm Thanks. JVC1040@yahoo.com
Hi, i meant to put Hifinut604, for the comments about the best mini monitors i heard. I put Sdcampbell by mistake.
Hifinut, Just out of curiosity, what are you trying to accomplish with the change? It seems some of the suggestions would not really be a significant (if any) upgrade to the TSM's - just a switch to floorstanders. If better low end response is the goal, have you considered trying to integrate your monitors with a really good sub (REL, Aerial, etc)? Done well, this will accomplish this goal better than any small floorstander. If it's decor-driven, or you have no additional separate footprint available, I understand.
i have noticed on a couple other threads that Tm12 seems to have more negative comments about folks that happen to like gear he either can't afford/hasn't heard/doesn't like. all i know about tm12 is he likes (& owns) coincident & rogue. well, tm12, much as i tried to give the rogue audio 99 preamp w/magnum upgrade a fair shot in my system, it's just way too coloured - if it kills the cj/krell/ar/ml/etc., as you say, perhaps you'd like another for a second system? meanwhile, yust cuz someone traded merlins on kharma's does *not* mak them an idiot. and, re: meadowlarks, i auditioned the kestral hot-rods - both in my system x'd over to subs, & in a stand-alone system - nice, but veiled - i'd surely go w/proacs - even the small tablette 50 signatures were more musical, imho...doug
i have noticed on a couple other threads that Tm12 seems to have more negative comments about folks that happen to like gear he either can't afford/hasn't heard/doesn't like. all i know about tm12 is he likes (& owns) coincident & rogue. well, tm12, much as i tried to give the rogue audio 99 preamp w/magnum upgrade a fair shot in my system, it's just way too coloured - if it kills the cj/krell/ar/ml/etc., as you say, perhaps you'd like another for a second system? meanwhile, yust cuz someone traded merlins on kharma's does *not* mak them an idiot. and, re: meadowlarks, i auditioned the kestral hot-rods - both in my system x'd over to subs, & in a stand-alone system - nice, but veiled - i'd surely go w/proacs - even the small tablette 50 signatures were more musical, imho...doug