Magnepan, B&W 803, or NHT VT3 ? ?

Thanks for the insight, my current speakers are 10'5" center to center, this pretty much will be the location of any replacements. I took several cds and I listen to several pair of speakers including NHT VHT2, Maggie 3.6,Vandersteens 3a; Vandersteen Quad; B&W 802/803 and they did sound different. I like the B&W 802 and my Pioneer CS-T6100, strange as it may sound, I really do like the soundstage of my Pioneer speakers. I wish I could compare them side by side to some other speakers. Maybe my equipment is bringing the best out of these old speakers.

Listening off-axis with Maggies is only a problem in 2 channel mode. If you have a 5.1 or 7.1 Maggie-based system, you should be able to enjoy the experience from a much wider listening area. The hard center-channel of your prepro focuses all dialog into the screen area for both Dolby Digital and DTS encoded sources.

the first poster is correct about the maggies, but you will have the most fun and the most comments from guests with the maggies. they will be the most relaxing of the group for movies- no headaches by the end-they also will have by far the biggest soungstage image; and for music, they smoke the others for most types of music- I say it's an easy call and one I promise you won't regret ever. be sure to do the matching center though! I must add that the cone type equivalent to maggies is the Vandersteen 3a's if you decide to not go pannel speakers. Vandersteen is equally good in the music department and would be more dynamic for movies. Please keep in mind, that if your sub is not a rel,velodyne,or other very good sub, it's not going to gel with the main speakers at all for music- for movies-who cares it will be fine.

Determine where your listening position/s will be. The maggies sound great but only from a narrow field. Also, look at the center channel speakers. You really should get a matching center. Which ones can you afford and can they be easily placed? Will the center channel break your budget?

When listening, there are a few issues:
1-take your own cd that you know quite well
2-remember that different gear running the speakers will make them sound drastically different. See if you can take them home. Or, take your amp/pre in on a slow day and set up at the shop.
3-try to audition from a similar listening position as home.