How does one pick in this situation?

@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?