Living in a New York apartment, the idea of trading into and out of speakers has not appealed to me...too much lifting, too much hassle,not enough time. About 2 1/2 years ago, I started looking for speakers to replace my Sehring S703s through all the dealers I could find in the NY/NJ area. The only speaker I heard that really blew my socks off as a major step up from Sehring was the Kaiser Kawero Classic. However, it is a really big speaker made for really big rooms, so would not work for me.
I ended up finding the distributor for Ascendo and went to hear the C8 Renaissance at Audio 202 in New Jersey. They sounded very good, but I saw in the corner of the showroom a tall, narrow speaker, the Behold Tanara. The dealer set them up for me. They were as good as the Kaisers but smaller and less pricey. They are driven by a Behold G192 integrated amp/DAC. I got a good deal on the speakers and amp, sold all my separates, so that the upgrade only cost about $10K. For the last 18 months, my setup has been awe inspiring to me and anyone who has visited to listen. These are my last speakers. For anyone in the New York who likes Coincident, Acoustic Zen, or some of the other usual candidates, go listen to a Behold system. They are either massively underappreciated, or I have a fetish for German speakers.