Sonus Faber Grand Pianos Or Audio Physic Virgos

You've got lots of choices in the $3-6k price range for speakers. The Virgos(haven't heard new version yet) and GPs are certainly great speakers, but others in that range would probably do better on the low end might be the Gershmann Avant Garde RX20, Coincident Technology Super Eclipse, Soliloquy 6.3, Talon Peregrine, and Silverline Sonata II. All are excellent speakers(as are the Virgos and the GPs), and personal preference more than anything would likely determine the winner and fairly easily as they're all very different. If you're looking to do a CD/SACD player that cheap I'd buy one and get it modified by Stan Warren/Dan Wright/Ric Schultz so it does justice to your speakers(and the rest of your system). Best of luck.

Tim

Both the old Virgo 2's and the new 3's that I now own are a nice improvement over the Grand Piano. The Virgo 3 ahs much improved bass over the older model and the detail and coherency are astounding. I can't recommend any sacd/cd player in the $500 range to use with speakers of this caliber. I am using a modified Sony 9000es DVD/SACD/CD player. It is a reasonable player stock but mods like those offered by www.modwright.com turn into something quite wonderful.
Have fun

Heard them both and would rate them as follows after the easy #1 pick:

1) Vandersteen 3A Signatures (much better)

2) Audio Physic Virgo III

3) Grand Pianos