Vandersteen 5a vs. B&W 802D vs. Maggie 3.6 vs.?

Thanks for the response. I do have the space and I think my Mac 402 has enough juice. I am very sensitive to soundstaging and my brief experiences with Maggies have enamoured me. I was always worried though about the dynamic ability and slam that they could provide. I don't listen that loud but I still want the viseral impact of a cresendo.

The brightness really scare me. I owned numerous Thiel's and all had some excellent attributes but I could never get past the brightness. This was regardless of associated equipment. I used ARC and c-j.

Yeah, many rock recordings do suck. I have extensive vinyl and that helps a bit but it's such a apin to use. The best system performance I get is with later recordings. I do listen to a lot of jazz and find they offer far greater results.

I'll check them out

Well, after reading everyones input........and thank you one and all..........I've decided to make the necessary trips required to listen to my choices. I am also adding the new Harbeth 40.1's to my list. The overwhelming feedback has been for the Vandersteen line. I actually had a knowledegable dealer recommend I stay with what I have and make some adjustments and xover changes. His advice has helped my system. I have spoken with a couple of dealers that sell all of my choices except Harbeth. Two dealers sell them but did not mention them in our conversations. The positive press and some feedback on this site has opened the window to me listening to the new Harbeth 40.1. I am a little tentatibe here as my speakers just prior to the Vandersteen 3A's were Spendor SP100's. Very pleasant but also very bland in my opinion.

To hear all I need to travel to Indy and Chicago. The good news is I can tie in my listening in Chicago with the Chicago auto show! Not a bad way to go!

I remain a bit perplexed in that I think that the Vandersteen 5A's will provide what I am looking for but I have a strong distaste for having to rely on a dealer for set up. I have always set up all of my own systems and don't like having to rely on any dealer for this. I think Vandersteen is missing the full market by not allowing owners to have his set up discs and instructions. I understand he like to protect his dealers and I appreciate that but his end consumers should be the highest concern. Just my opinion and I would probably feel different if I had a local dealer.

I'd love to hear more from others about the Harbeth 40.1's and how they compare to my other choices as well as the Spendor SP100's.

Again, thanks to all!