Best speakers for music/theater system?

Hi Draw, let me start by informing you that i use the Aerial 10t and cc3 and sr3. Am i going to recommend them for your budget new or used. Maybe not. For very good music and HT there are many very good speakers to choose from. But lets try to look at the system as a whole. Lets start with your budget and your goal. Lets take a look at the room that will be used. Lets forget about the budget and room for a bit. Lets say that the room has the proper demensions for a speaker like the Aerial 10t. Lets see your options for powering the 10t. Ok the 10t is a full range speaker that doesn't really need a Sub for music but does for good LFE's. Good, that means for the LFE you won't need an expensive sub for TRex's stomp. But the 10t is inefficient and drops to 3ohm. Good or bad, lets see what amp you will need to properly drive the 10t. You will need a more powerful amp that is a high current design that can safely double down. Ok this kind of amp will cost more being powerful enough for the inefficient 10t than a less powerful amp of the same quality. All the Aerials are inefficient. This means more money spent to power the Areials. Are the Aerials a good sounding speaker? Yes they are. Can you choose a speaker that sounds just as good but is more efficient and will cost less for the amps needed to power the Aerials. Yes you can saving a few thousand and not losing any sound quality. Building a high quality stereo or HT system to fit your needs takes careful planning and making intelligent choices to get the most for your money. Like building a new home, it takes planning and a blueprint to follow. When your question is "what are the best speakers for HT, music being highest priority, budget 10k", thats a good valid question and many posters will respond with some great sounding high quality choices. All the great speaker choices recommended can result in going over budget without the proper planning and matching the proper components with components and speakers along with matching the speakers to your room. Good planning and proper matching with intelligent choices can achive great sound within your budget. What ever speakers interest you, it may be in your best interest and budget to view the the picture as a whole. Also always best if you can listen to your choices in your own listening room. Because of this i always try not to purchase used speakers and hope they sound good. Unless the used speaker is local where you can hear and see what your buying. There is also a greater risk of shipping damage for larger heavey speakers. This happened to me once trying to save some money and Fedex just trashed the speakers. You don't want to go thru the hassel of collecting on a damage claim. Spending 10k on your speakers is a substantial purchase. Buying new from a reputable dealer will give you peace of mind knowing your investment is protected and the speaker will be factory fresh. This is just my opinion and you decide for yourself. I had a bad experience buying used and left a bad taste. I do buy used components when trying to save. Not the speakers, too much risk. Good Luck with your dissisions.

Dunlavy or Dynaudio would be my first two choices. Dunlavy's would cost more and require more space, but might sound better depending on your musical tastes. For Dynaudio, you could get the Contour series - 3.0's for L/R fronts ($5500), the matching center ($1300), and a pair of something like the Audience 50's or Contour 1.1's for the surrounds ($900 and $1600) respectively. These are all list prices and it still adds up to less than $10K - you could come in under $5K if you go used. You could move up to the Confidence series used and keep it to $10K if your associated equipment is high quality, you'd value the higher quality, and the $10K is ready and waiting to be spent on this, but you could be very happy for a lot less. I've got the Contour setup described (yes, purchased used), but if I had the time and money to play around, something built around the Dunlavy Alethas and SM-1's would be a lot of fun to try and I'm sure very satisfying.

You may want to listen to a Vandersteen system - 3a's in the front; vcc-1 center; vsm-1 rears; 2w subwoofer - should be in the budget also.

The Aerial Acoustic are one of the best choice's. If you are looking for new speakers let me know.

Should be able to pick up used, Aerial. 10s for the fronts /cc3 for the center/7s or 8s for the rears;all within your budget.