Mark:
You have gone through a very thoughtful process and received a lot of good advice. As a current owner of Verity and DeVore Fidelity speakers, I would offer some further comments for your consideration.
WRT Verity, I was disappointed in the Leonore's when compared to the Fidelio Encore's I own. The Leonore's go a little higher and deeper and are a little easier to drive, but when I listen to them, I do not hear the musical refinement and accuracy that are so abundant in the FE's. The Parsifal Ovation's are like FE's on steroids, although the Ovation's are harder to drive.
I realize you have not asked for alternative speaker recommendations, but I will nonetheless suggest that you consider auditioning the DeVore Fidelity Silverback's. At $16800 they are WAY underpriced IMHO, and are of course less than the Parsifal Ovation's. The Silverback's are the speakers that I can afford (if money were no object I would own the Shindo Latour's) that have stolen my heart and taken up permanent residence in my primary system, a system that over the past year began with the Sonus Faber Auditor M's, then the Verity FE's, and now (finally) the Silverback's. Like the Verity FE's, the Silverback's have a high degree of sonic refinement and accuracy. But what I greatly prefer about the Silverback's over the Verity FE's, Parsifal Ovation's, and even the Sarastro's to some degree, is how musically engaging the Silverbacks are. This is the one criterion that elevates the Silverback's over Verity in my experience. As much as I value refinement and accuracy in a speaker, in the end it must also be musically engaging. If you do audition the Silverback's, I would be curious to learn of your reaction to them versus the Parsifal Ovation's.
Good luck in your musical quest!
