Non-fatiguing speakers in $10K range?

@ditusa - it says "performance of horns can be achieved", not that the speaker employs (or sounds like) horns. In that sense Revel (or few others) are "horns" because they use tweeter inside a waveguide... :-)

After all, I own them and they don't sound like horns at all. Typical British sound.

@gdnrbob I am in Seattle and to some definition it is a major city. And yet there is very little so listen to. Some list many brands on their web sites but do not actually have anything in stock. Some distributors (such US one for ProAc) shows there is a dealer in Seattle, but when I go to the dealer web site, there is no ProAc and they claim they do not carry any.

Hawthorne Stereo now mostly sells vintage and lower end gear. Definitive Audio is now $$$$. And DA Seattle is actually closed, only one in suburbs close to Microsoft ($$$) is actually open. There is another HiFi store but it is more like a warehouse full of boxes and don’t have any real listening room.

I went and listened to B&W (hard no), Linn (nope), ATC (no), KEF (no), Wilson (maybe...), Sonus Faber (a bit too relaxed already, voiced to classical, I think)

I can listen to AirPulse or Meze Elites for days. It is Focal I want to throw out :-).

As for measurements I simply thought at some point many years ago - why is that some speakers sound good to me and some not. I can read charts, I have masters in applied math (signal processing). So I did quite a bit of research that yielded quite high correlation between certain charts and my preferences. YMMV, of course.

@ditusa - JBL seems to be a horn or waveguide like they use in concerts?

@helomech - It seems like there is love/hate with Legacy, some people really, really love them. I am not particularly keep on Legacy simply b/c of the size and weight. I am not into moving them and there is no one to help me if I decide to reposition them or even get them moved from main floor down to my audio place...

@ditusa Tannoy D700 are concentrics, not horns to any extent.

@mm1tt77 - Looking at Revel Salon 2, it sounds nice actually, but I have concern with 86 Db sensitivity while my amp is technically 30W Class A (although Accuphase does spec 60 and even 120 W to 2 Ohms, I guess class AB). F328Be appears to be 91 Db, but may people prefer Salon 2 sound.

@deep_333 - Thanks! I also found GR and I am seriously looking into ordering pair of bullies. They indeed look like the ticket. I spoke to Danny as well wrt my search. 

@goose - Yeah, I wanted to drive down since they had Revel Studio 2 for sale, unfortunately, it is now sold. Looks like Stereotypes carry Proac so I may stop by there too.

@mbmi - is anything wrong with them?

Well I am not sure what in GR caused people to get angry? Engineering appears sound, measurements are good, adjustable sub section is a good thing, speakers go down to 20 almost flat, Danny improves and upgrades speakers from big names and people seem happy with his work.

Big names employ engineers like him. And after all, Tesla also was small shop installing batteries into Lotus frames... Linus started alone and almost dethroned huge names in operating systems with Linux...

@audiokinesis - thanks much! The room is roughly 30x15x8. I don't have many room treatments, just what's left from my former HT setup - 6 12"x4' ASC tube traps and 4 6"x4' traps and maybe 5-6 1" 2'x2' absorption panels. Rug on the floor, thin carpeting.

Yes, I know about soft sound, but I guess I mostly meant "no bumps" around 5K :-) Speaker appearance does not matter much. 

I auditioned Klipsch couple of times, La Scala, corner horns, but never really found them to be rock speakers. Wonderful with voice and piano though.

I ruled out Legacy primarily on size and weight. Shipments gets to $500-600 plus I don't know how to get them down my long and steep driveway (trucks don't go there) and then downstairs with limited space to turn around.

Thanks!

@mbmi - I am sure Borresens is a nice speaker. However - I don't need speaker for "all kinds of music" - jack of all trades is always a compromise at a given price point. 

Only X2 is my price range and there are no dealers anywhere close to PNW. Borresens Web site is rather frustrating, such basic information like specs is nowhere to be found, just nice pics. 

@deep_333 - all true :-). I am not going to spend that much. I hear Porsche 718 EV convertible is coming, so I'll save for that hahaha.

I will try and see if I can Proac 48R or K3 to audition and maybe Dali Rubicon 8. But most probably I'll indeed should get Bullies :-)

@mbmi - out of cusiosity, why do you think GR is a crapbox. Engineering appears sound and so are measurements. I have engineering and math background in signal processing so I can read charts and waterfalls and such. Can't find any measurements for Børresen and they seem to hide specs pretty deep in their Web site.

Some of Børresen engineering solutions appear to be questionable - ex, lots of small ports typically produce more port noise than one large port at the same port velocity…and that speaker has almost 100 ports? Two 4.5" woofers is about same as a single 6.5" driver, which is pretty small IMO and most probably require a decent sub. This takes the system way over $10K and I am not willing to spend more.

Also, there are no dealers close to PNW, nearest is in San Diego, I think. 

@hheedah - Yeah, I’ve seen plasma speakers back in 90’s. In fact, one of my relatives was a physicist and knew the company owner - don’t remember the name of the speaker though. Their entry level is already way over and buying used exotic with close to zero service availability... I’ll probably pass :-)

Yes, Legacy is something I am seriously considering. May need to invest in a serious dolly, as someone here suggested...

@rooze - yes, thanks! I am watching if 48R happens to show up slightly used... :-)