Searching for the most "accurate" speaker (below 15K)

Thanks for the reply. I’m pursuing a different sound philosophy, though … There good things (from my perspective) in the best examples of the modern speakers: speed, transparency, tonal accuracy, dynamics (both micro and macro). I find the Magico Q Series as a perfect example of the qualities I’m after … but in a different price point. In fact, I’m looking for a poor man’s Q Series ;)

Oran, I will check the ATCs ... regarding their active designs, do you have any opinion? 

Cheers

Thanks yogyboy ... Unfortunately I have no chance of auditioning the harbeths as they're not available where I live. They look old school ... But they may very well sound otherwise :)

Thank you all! I live in Portugal and brands like Joseph, DeVore or Decware are not available around.

Regarding the GoldenEar Reference, it happens that I own the Triton One and I do respect the brand a lot. But the fact is that, as I've improved the electronics their limitations became evident. Also I need a speakers who interacts less with my smallish room (and the GoldenEars do interact a lot)

@jjue and @inna : I've briefly auditionetd the Sopra 2 and was impressed. And this was with less than stellar electronics ... I'm trying to get an audition at home :)

@ahendler , that is a fair and excellent question. Perception is a very idiosyncratic matter. Las week I got a recommendation for some speakers (I will not mention the brand model). Please note that the recommendation came from a fellow audiophile who is in this hobby for some 30 years and he builds some speakers himself. I found the sound to be a total disgrace. No scale, no speed, dynamically impaired, with box colorations ... I could go on. 
By saying that I'm looking for a poor man's Magico Q series, I'm saying something about my preferences. I look for a speaker which adds or detracts as little as possible from the signal it is being fed. Nylon strings should sound like nylon and steel like steel. The speed of the attack of the notes in the piano should be the same on the right and or in the lowest notes on the left hand... I think you get the picture
The emotion is in the music. A speaker should not sound "happy" or "sad"; "warm" or "cold"; "dark" or "bright". It should be the "messenger". I think neutrality and accuracy are often mistaken with sounding "aloof". Sorry: those speakers are subtracting so much stuff from the music that they are far from accurate ...

@gdhal : the GoldenEars are very well engineered. Think about how much you are getting for the money: a large box, a DSP+Amp and 7 drivers in each speaker. And, of course, they cannot be using top of the range components. And, actually, the whole thing works quite well ... as long as you use electronics from the same league (before I had a ML 383 ... quite decent, but the Nagra is from a different galaxy). When you move forward the you realize that the drivers (and particularly the active/passive sections, although I got a big improvement from using aftermarket powercords) don't share the same speed and resolution. The soundstage grows in size but not in accuracy. The box colorations become evident ... In a nutshell: there is a too strong sonic signature coming claerly from the speaker. 

@willemj : the room is less than 20 sq meters (200 sq ft). Thanks!

@willemj : totally agree with the dsp ... I've played a bit and it really seems to be the way to go! and yes: speakers cannot be too big and I'm affraid the Sopra 2 may be a bit too much for the room ...

Thank you all! a lot of good information here, already :) I will ellaborate a bit on some of the answers when I have the time.

@audiotroy : extremely insightful answer and it seems that our understanding of "accurate" is aligned. Thanks!

These days have been hectic and I was not able to come back to discussion before ...

@marktomaras : yes, I know Imacustica (who doesn´t in Portugal? ;)). I must confess that Wilson is not exactly my sound ... and currently they have no opportunities. They have, however a pair of Martin Logan Summit X which are going to be sold with a good discount since that line has been discontinued. I'm not sure however if they will be a good fit for a small room ... And I also don't know how my amplifier will handle them ...

@david_ten : it is a living room in a restored 100 years old building. It is a suspended wood floor, so I've playing with isolation solutions to decouple the speakers from the floor ...

From my perspective I don't feel the discussion has been hijacked by a dealer. Actually there was a very informative post from @audiotroy which I felt was quite honest (btw, it was removed not longer after it was posted). As long as properly identified (and this is the case), I have no problems at all in having dealers taking part of the discussion. We all have biases, not only the dealers ...

Last saturday I brought the Paradigm Persona 3F home ... and they are not leaving (!)
Its neutrality, transparency and speed are shocking for its price tag. I felt like they asked me: "So, you want the truth? Can you handle the truth!?". Well, it turns out that I can ... but it's a (rewarding) challenge. These are "dangerous" speakers. They will be everyone's favourites. It adds and subtracts so little from the signal that one has to re-educate the ear. Recording you used to consider great are, after all, not that great. And the opposite is true as well. 
My wife is a lyric singer. We were listening to one of the "perfect" performances and she was noticing for the very first time some "imperfections" ... which in her perspective make it so much more "human" and authentic. I do agree ... 

The organic ultra-resolution of the Nagra Classic Amp are a perfect match. They deserve the very best electronics you can get ... And I have them sitting on the top of  Seismic Isolation Podium from Townshend. So, I think I'm treating them well :)

@audiotroy : I totally agree with your analysis. Not everyone's ears  are the same ... but it looks like we listen in the same way ;)

@tomcy6 : I took my amp to a friend's house to listen to his Summit X with the Nagra. The sound was awesome, but the place is some 70 sq. meters ... when I moved to the position where I will be listening to them at home, the sound felt unnatural (like having huge headphones). The Persona are a perfect fit for the room size ...

To everyone who contributed, thank you so much!!!

Of course, I meant "They will NOT be everyone's favourites." instead of "  They will be everyone's favourites."

Thanks @david_ten  and @2psyop !

@tomcy6 , I'm in love with the truth ;)

@audiotroy ,

Thanks for the invitation :) I don't foresee a to travel to US soon, but if this happens I will contact you!
Regarding the Gaia footer, I heard good things about them, but I'm the Townshend Seismic (http://www.townshendaudio.com/hi-fi-home-cinema-equipment-vibration-isolation/hi-fi-home-cinema-vibr...). I think that in terms of mechanical decoupling this is as good as it gets ...

T+A top series is really amazing. They share some sonic attributes with my Nagra so I imagine the sound should be *very* nice :)

@prof , Thanks for sharing your experience. I know the Anthem electronics and I see them as "good value" but a long way behind the refinement of the absolute best solid state amplifiers (the newest Nagra generation, Constellation Audio, Soulution, CH Precision, Dartzeel or Pass Labs). So I think your opinion could be somehow different had you listened to them with different electronics. But I also agree with your statement "I’ve found there is only so far one can go with peripherals like amps etc in terms of altering the sound of a speaker. "

So, "vive la différence" ... the world would be quite boring if we all agreed :) Enjoy your Thiel’s!

@jtgofish : i heard a lot of good things about the new Yamaha 5000 ... but they're not available in my country :/

@normicnorm: I do like the MLs. But room/budget are an issue. The Persona 3F are awesome and a perfect fit for the room size ...

@ctsooner , you're welcome :) enjoy the read!

@ctsooner, I see what you mean but in a recent article about the Magico M6, Jonathan Valin does a pretty good job explaining the differences between the  “musicality-first” and "accuracy-first" inclinations:
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/magic-m6/

My view is that you one can use the terms but making the effort of explaining his understanding on a particular term. Accuracy alone is vague as most people think their "truth" is the only one around.

Cheers!