Looking for a new speaker. Wilson Maxx II ??

I would like to say upfront that I am a dealer for Von Schweikert, have been a dealer for Kharma and have owned most of the Wilson speakers that have been produced.

As Hooper and Hifimaniac alluded to, the Von Schweikert VR7SE's are incredible. They are probably the finest fully passive speaker I have heard. The Wilson MAXX II's excel at big dynamic swings and have very good bass extension but do not have the cohesiveness and clarity of the Kharma speakers. The Kharma's are very transparent and musical, but lack the real deep bass that gives foundation to the music as well as lacking the big dynamics one gets with the Wilson speakers.
Someone also mentioned the Rockports. While being a very musical speaker, they lack the ultimate clarity and dynamics that I look for in a speaker.

The Von Schweikert VR7SE's seem to have it all. Clarity and musicality, dynamics and plummeting bass, cohesiveness and highs to die for. They are also easier to drive than either the Wilson's, or the Kharma's.

Find a way to listen to as many speakers as you can. At the price range you are in, it might be worth it to fly to different locations to insure your investment.

Good luck!

Wow this has just gotten a lot harder. Based on all of these great recommendations I have a lot of speakers to check out.

Thanks for all of your input.

Ellery911,
Sorry I did not keep you informed of my amp selection. I have both a pair of Mac MC501 and Atma-Sphere MA2.

Dear Muslover: I think that you can do a lot better in this way: go for a pair of MONITORS : Revel, JmLabs Utopia, Merlin, Harbeth, Spendor, Legacy, Talon, Dynaudio, Dali, Totem, Proac, Tannoy, Thiel, B&W, Sonus Faber, etc... and a pair of SUBWOOFERS: Wilson, Talon, Velodyne, Revel, Aerial, etc...

In this way you can get a 20K+ very high quality sound reproduction speaker system that is a " full range speaker system ", that can be competitive and can beat speakers that cost 50-60K+ and with many advantages over that very high price speakers:

- Many of the monitors models in a speakers line manufacturer ( between their frecuency range ) sounds better than the full range system, but not only sounds better they have better imaging, focus, less distortion, etc,..

- You can integrate easily the monitors to your room than a full range speaker and you can find the best room place for the frecuency range of your monitors: high/midrange, where the monitors don't have to worried about the low bass.

- With a full range speakers ( in one box/body ) almost always the best room place for the best bass room interaction is not the best place for the high/midrange frecuencies room integration: there are to many compromising issues that degraded the quality sound reproduction. With the monitors/subs fashion you don't have it.

- In the same way you can integrate the two subwoofers easily in your room: these subs are " separate/stand alone " of the monitors. So you can have the best room integration from both worlds: monitors and subs, you can't do this with a molithic speakers.

- Now, your tube amps are now " free " of the great power demands of the low bass frecuencies that now are handle for a dedicated amplifiers on the self powered subwoofers.

If you have time please read these links about:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&27&4#27

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&31&4#31

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Tell you what, I have recently purchased a Pair of Vr-8's Directly from the factory. I had a cool time meeting the group there.Instead of getting the money and dropping them in the van they hooked them up measured, played, Tweeked,, Xovers measured, tweaked, agian Unitil the crossover guru was A happy camper. ( 3 hours :). My 8's can be upgraded to 9 status. New 15" woofers with dedicated amp/xover unit. New Midbass 10" New midranges, new tweeters. This upgrade is about 7500. add that to the vr-8's used price its a steal. The man who traded in the vr-8's ordered a full blown pair of 140,000 VR-11's, which I watched them build on the tour. These people love thier work and it shows.