SO many good choices out there, and also will be relatively dependent upon source material, cables, power treatment (or lack thereof), ambient and other noise, room etc.
Personally I have a few setups going on in my house, with the main system being some Sonus Olympica 2's driven with some Odyssey monos... they sound great. Listening room is some B&W CM's driven with some AR tubes and Mcintosh Pre. Again, it's about balance and driving the speakers with something to make things neutral.
Some hate B&W's. I don't prefer them driven with a bright solid-state high-powered amp, but with tubes, they're somewhat different. Cables change things as well.
What sort of music and source form factor do you prefer?
Auditioning is super critical, as you're aware. Let your ears be your guide. See if you can do some in-home auditioning. Your listening environment is likely nothing like that of an audio parlour...
Vienna Acoustics were one of my faves, and I just recently rotated a pair out of my main system. Worth a listen-to for sure.
Personally I have a few setups going on in my house, with the main system being some Sonus Olympica 2's driven with some Odyssey monos... they sound great. Listening room is some B&W CM's driven with some AR tubes and Mcintosh Pre. Again, it's about balance and driving the speakers with something to make things neutral.
Some hate B&W's. I don't prefer them driven with a bright solid-state high-powered amp, but with tubes, they're somewhat different. Cables change things as well.
What sort of music and source form factor do you prefer?
Auditioning is super critical, as you're aware. Let your ears be your guide. See if you can do some in-home auditioning. Your listening environment is likely nothing like that of an audio parlour...
Vienna Acoustics were one of my faves, and I just recently rotated a pair out of my main system. Worth a listen-to for sure.