How does one pick in this situation?

Depending on budget. Sometimes you have to accept the adage of "don't let perfection get in the way of good".  I have found that if you can determine some of your basic needs such as budget, size and placement, reading reviews can point you in a direction. If you see a lot of consensus for one, its usually a good sign.

Find a dealer with a generous return policy and take the leap.

Go to a show like Pacific Audio Fest.

Both the Salk and Nola are very good speakers. You could make a good sounding system from either, and based on the picture of your system, either would be a big improvement

@llg98ljk could you give an example of what integrated amp you would pair for each one of those? Kurt curious how you'd match them each up. I was able to listen to the Salk, but not the Nola. The Salk had great clarity and low end extension from its transmission line design, but it still seemed a little bright or forward in the midrange without enough midbass punch. It was pointed out to me by others that the magnesium cones of the woofers are very revealing and some of my music that I listen to is poorly recorded which makes the music unlistenable on ultra revealing high quality speakers. So, the Salk may not be the best choice for my tastes in wide depression of music such as rock and industrial,etc. Just curious how you'd pair it up so I could learn how it's done, even though I don't think that speaker would work for my tastes in any situation even though it is high quality.

What pre/amp or integrated was driving the Salks?  I highly recommend you go back and listen to the Contenders as they will correct a lot of what you didn’t like about the Salks as it’s a very different sounding speaker and probably will be much more to your liking.  🤞🤞🤞.

@soix the Salk veracity were with an (made in England?) Onix-125 integrated, and I suspect they were in a room too small and too close to the wall. (It was the seller's second system). They are probably awesome speakers,  but I don't have a ton of room in my place either.  Although I could have spaced them farther apart , and my room is bigger than what i heard them in, I can't pull them too far into the room away from the wall or it blocks a doorway. The speakers were pretty big and at least 15" deep too. So it just seemed like it would be a less than perfect fit.

My personal opinion. I’m not a strong believer in speaker/amp pairings. Probably becomes more important when you have six figure systems.To me, I’m more concerned with current delivery and impedance matching.

What city are you in?

Take a trip to a place that has the speakers you want to listen to. Yes, it will cost some money that you'd prefer to put towards the speakers but it's worth it in the end if you end up with the right speakers after only one try. 

Looking at the photo of your room, I’d make acoustical treatments a high priority.

And, good reading material.

Wanted to see @labguy's system to understand the discussion, but the link sends me elsewhere. Just a bad link, or do I need some higher level of membership? I have certainly viewed many other systems in the past (e.g., who could forget MC's cable risers)?

I've brought so many passive speakers home to find they sound nothing like the demo, usually once home the bass is mia!  Use Best Buy to listen to some speakers in your room and system just to get a feel for what to expect. Some speakers need insane power, My blades sounded great cranked up with a 300wpc amp driving them, but were kinda dull and lifeless at low volumes until I threw a couple 600 wpc monoblocks on them. You have to educate yourself, decide on what component your building around and commit. Shopping at resale prices helps minimise  damage.

@labguy: not sure how helpful you'll find this. However, FWIW, I sympathize completely with the dearth of high-end and/or good quality stereo shops in some areas of the planet. Regardless, I've always felt that driving a couple hundred miles or quick weekend flights to get to & from good quality stereo shops is perfectly acceptable in order to make informed decisions regarding stereo toys, especially expensive ones, and most especially for expensive speakers. Take a spouse, a friend! Make a fun long weekend vacation out of the excursion(s)! Of course, one should always carefully communicate with the targeted shops beforehand in order to orchestrate as fair a demo or audition as possible (e.g.  dimensions & acoustic characteristics of your home sound room; placement limitations; components; what you're looking for; specifying which components you want the shop(s) to use in order to approximate, as closely as possible, what you have; bring music you are thoroughly familiar with; etc.). Explain what you are doing and make no bones about the fact that you don't want them wasting your time! Admittedly, there is no substitute for gauging what various components will truly sound like in your own home, most especially speakers. However, with a modicum of audiophile know-how, you can come pretty close.

As for the remark "some of my music that I listen to is poorly recorded", all I can say is that I've experienced this dilemma, as well, frequently after upgrading various components. As a result, I've slowly started to replace those recordings, when possible, with better produced, better engineered and better recorded copies.

Good Luck!

@llg98ljk could you give an example of what integrated amp you would pair for each one of those…

If I was starting over, a Lyngdorf TDAI would be on my list.
And if the room is troublesome, then it would move up the list.

Looking at the photo of your room, I’d make acoustical treatments a high priority.

Again if the OP is in a WAF constrained, then the Lyngdorf sort of makes sense here as well. 

@rmdmoore 

+1 Take a trip… listen to a wide variety of speakers, without prejudice. You want to find a brand (they have house sound) that has an emotional connection. 
 

Take your wife, take her out in the evening. Let her shop somewhere else while you audition speakers.

If you make this part of the pursuit, over time you will start being able to separate which sound is coming from the speakers vs components. Listening to different systems is very educational.

Just buy and try if its within budget.

@labguy sorry, no shortcuts. Bottom line - we can’t tell you what you’ll like.  Best we can do is tell you what we like or retell what others like, only you can determine your preferences.

1) Ideally it’s best to test the component in your own system. Buying and selling used helps mitigate the costs and let’s you try it out.

2) Next best is to demo the speakers yourself.  Speakers are not perfect, so there are subjective preferences.  We can’t tell what you’ll like and am willing to pay.  I went far to many audio stores and audio shows to demo speakers 

3) if you can’t demo the speakers then you’re out of luck - you’ll have to take a chance to try out for yourself, but you can always sell/replace later - it’s not in stone.  We can suggest popular brand/models that seem to get  universally positive reviews like Monitor Audio or GoldenEar speakers which may be the safer bet.