Haven't tried the others you mention, use harmonics pro 9 shotgun. Very good. The NBS is very good for the money, I suspect better than the others you mentioned. Very clean and extended at both extremes but lacks the fullness of say the magnan signature, my personal favourite, but 3 x more expensive. If your system is sounding too warm or a little on the bloated side the monitor iv will tighten up the whole system. They are very detailed but not edgy. I have found that cable changes are dependant on system resolution. I currently use B&W Nautilis 802 with Krell FPB300 and AR LS16.