The Snell Reference A Towers get my vote. Now, I admit I've not heard many of the speakers mentioned above, but I've heard quite a few speakers (I especially liked the vote for Lloyd Bensen re: quip to Dan Quayle .. lol).
I was surprised to see the DCM Time Windows mentioned. I owned a pair of these for several years. I then heard the Snell B Minor in an A/B comparison (because I bought the B Minors). The DCM sounded like they were coming from a box in the next room -- congested, out of focus, distant. But, the Time Windows are great speakers for the money.
Then I bought the Snell A Reference ... which took the sound of the B Minor yet a few more quantum leaps forward ... and the B Minors became, and remain, the mainstay in the home theater system, and the A's remain in the separate stereo system.
Many mention the Martin Logan. When I first heard ML, I was just blown away by them -- it was so *real* in-your-face-right-there sounding. But as I listened extendedly, I came to feel it sounded "thin." Perhaps this is just a prejudice from listening to boxes for too long.
Anyway, we audiophiles are blessed by having so many choices in, not only speakers, but wonderful equipment these days. Those who suggested, several years ago, that stereo was dead and surround had replaced it reminds me of the story about the suggestion, made long ago (when was it ... in Ben Franklin's or Thomas Edison's era) that the patent office should be closed because everything that could be invented already had been invented. Truly, this is the golden age of audio ... the numerous brands mentioned above are testament to that. We are lucky to be living in such an era.
Paul
