I own GR-Research's NX-Oticas, paired with a set of Double Trouble subwoofers. They are all open baffle speakers, I power them with a McIntosh MA12000.
I went down to GR-Research and listened to Danny's NX-Extremes which are one step above my NX-Oticas. We listened to Tin Pan Alley and Stevie sounded as if he and the band were all around me. It was fabulous.
I enjoy frequenting audio stores and listening to their wares. I tend to gravitate towards Maggies and Focals, all speakers in the 30k and plus arena. I'd put my open baffle NX-Otica set up against pretty much any setup up to $150k. Long story short, Open baffle speakers can be great! But that is my opinion.