If you have the room to place your speakers a good 4 feet or more in front of the wall behind them, you should go for the Magneplanar MMGs free in-home, satisfaction guaranteed trial.
I know you are suspicious about the likelyhood of satisfaction from at-home trials in general, but you should still consider an exception for these speakers because:
1. They are renowned for their spaciousness and imaging qualities.
2. They are renowned for being among the very best budget speakers available, providing "a taste of the high-end" and performing far, far above their $650/pair price.
3. They really do beat the living daylights out of similarly priced (and many higher priced) box speakers.
4. They are unquestionably resolving enough to evaluate upstream components critically.
5. They rock!
Besides the need for space behind them, they also have a very small sweet-spot when aligned correctly - i.e. pointed directly at your head. If you can live with those two requirements, you can live with these speakers, until you have already spent $4-5000 upstream, and have a similar amount to replace them with! ;-)
I know you are suspicious about the likelyhood of satisfaction from at-home trials in general, but you should still consider an exception for these speakers because:
1. They are renowned for their spaciousness and imaging qualities.
2. They are renowned for being among the very best budget speakers available, providing "a taste of the high-end" and performing far, far above their $650/pair price.
3. They really do beat the living daylights out of similarly priced (and many higher priced) box speakers.
4. They are unquestionably resolving enough to evaluate upstream components critically.
5. They rock!
Besides the need for space behind them, they also have a very small sweet-spot when aligned correctly - i.e. pointed directly at your head. If you can live with those two requirements, you can live with these speakers, until you have already spent $4-5000 upstream, and have a similar amount to replace them with! ;-)