I have auditioned the Shearwaters and the 805s but like you with different front ends. The 805s also had a subwoofer in the system. I had a chance to audition the Shearwaters at home for a week with an Audiomat Arpege(integrated tube) and am in the process of buying that combo. I have found this combo to present mids and highs beautifully. Acoustic guitar is wonderful. Jazz is great also. I found rock to be missing abit at the bottom end. However the system I used had limited hours on it and supposedly the bass will fill in. Everything I have heard or read(Audioreview.com) about the Shearwaters tells me it take awhile them to break-in. They sound so nice new however that I have decided to go ahead. I auditioned the Hot Rod version(biwired).
Help with speakers in 1500- 2000 range
Am just getting started on a system and am not going with seperates. Have decided to buy Arcam Avr 100 receiver and would like input on speakers, that would go well with it. Have read threads where people say " these speakers really like tubes," so want some that the arcam can bring out good sound in. Have heard b&w 805's as well as cdm1nt and cdm7nt, and medowlark sheerwaters. Thought the 805's sounded good with the arcam. The sheerwaters sounded good as well but they are more expensive and they were being driven by seperates. Thanks for any input.