Curious what people think is the best "value" high end speaker (~5K to 15K)

Since stereophile reviewers recommend everything they review I try and pay attention to the specifics they mention about a specific product that makes it stand out, in the case of the 5f the reviewer make considerable mention of brightness enough that if I had a room that was reflective at all I would disregard them. My room with carpet and heavy padding along with acoustic ceiling tiles in an 17x26 room they would probably sound great, wood floors and many windows probably not so much. 

@steve59  yes you have to carefully read between the lines for implied criticism. It might prove to be beyond your tolerance.

No such thing as a perfect review, you never see one. Besides this month’s flavours of the month will soon become also-rans as far as reviews go, or never mentioned again.

Agreed  @alanr123 regarding Focal. 
 I recently picked up a pair of the Kanta 3's (reference in the Kanta line) and they retail at $12K, but I got them for $9600. They are amazing with tube gear (Primaluna preamp and HP amp.) They are dynamic, one of the most open sounding pair of speakers I've ever heard regarding soundstage (huge!) fast, detailed, and DEEP bass response. I've never heard a pair of speakers that reproduced drums to the point of sounding scary good. Easy to drive yet take gobs of power. Beautiful midrange, detailed yet a bit less "in your face" than previous series. And no, they are NOT bright with the Berillium tweeters. The latest series has plenty of air and extension without being too bright. They've only been in the U.S. about six weeks, I'm still waiting for the reviews from major publications, but I didn't need to wait for those to know what I like. 

Depending on what folks like and are used to hearing or are told what to hear, there are tons of great value speakers.  if you are going up to 15k, I went with Vandersteen Quatrro's.. I personally feel they are the sweet spot in his line.  The carbon fiber tweeter is from the 62k model 7 mk2 I believe.  It has a built in powered sub with an 11 band EQ. I had bass issues in my room and that flattened things out nicely.  

What I found out is that Ricard voices his speakers in his own room as well as others.  This way he tries to make them sound great in real listening environments.  

I agree with most on reviews. Fun to read, but if even a reviewer says something tips towards bright, I personally run away, lol.  I have heard the Paradigm 9's and 5's plenty of times in dealers show rooms enough times to know how bright they are for MY EARS.....some have been told that is what live music sounds like so I'm glad there is a speaker for them.  Many manufacturers purposely tip their speakers up a db or more so that they stand out in the showroom. Kind of like walking into Best Buy stores and the TV's are all on the brightest settings, lol...Try watching that tv at home at that setting for longer than 30 minutes, lol.... not for me thanks.