Pick the dealer and then pick the speaker. At this price level a good dealer will visit your house, assess your listening room and then recommend the appropriate speaker and accessories (acoustic treatments, power amps, cabling, etc.). Rather than focus on the speaker of your dreams, try to seek out the best music setup. Paradoxically, they're not the same thing. For instance, you may desire a certain speaker, say the SF Amati Homage, but the only available dealer is a low-life idiot who refuses or is incapable of optimizing your post-purchase listening experience. You could purchase the Amatis and on your own try to get them right. Who knows, you might be able to attain 80-85% of their ultimate performance. Alternatively, there could be an outstanding Avalon dealer available who will really work for you on a purchase. Regardless of which speaker is objectively the better speaker, you'll attain a better listening experience with the Avalon purchase. Hopefully, there are enough good dealers available to you to give you a meaningful choice. Good luck!
Deciding on the right huge speaker
Say you had decided that it was time to buy the speakers of your dreams, that you were willing to spend $30K for a pair and that you were going to utilize the full services of a dealer if necessary (ie, you're willing to pay list, more or less).
We all say it's essential to listen to your potential purchases before committing, preferably in your own setting. If you were choosing between, say, the Dynaudio Temptations, the Dunlavy SC-VI, the new Snell XA (in this months Stereophile), the Krell LAT-1 and a pair of Wisdom Audio's, how would go about getting an evaluation of this field? All of these speakers are huge, both in terms of dimensions and in terms of weight. How do you go through the process with some sense that you're going to make the "right" choice? -Kirk