I do own a pair of Beethovens. I agree with Joe that they do require some effort to set up properly, I think because of the rear port. You will need to place them well out into the room. The ones I've listened to at Tweeter rarely do them justice, they just don't have many guys that can properly set up audio equipment. The ones that I thought came closest to in performance were the Silverline Sonitina II's. The Sonitina's were slightly more accurate, while the Beethovens were slightly warmer. I've never cared for the Thiel's or Mirage's I've heard. The Thiel's tend to be too bright for my tastes. I agree with Joe that the Mirage's soundstage better, but I preferred the tonality and imaging on the Beethovens. I have a friend who has a pair of Mirage M1-si, they are nice speakers, but require a very large room. They do spread a very large soundstage (their strength), but I can't pinpoint individual instruments within the sounstage like I can with the Beethovens. It is all a matter of tastes, musical and sonic. The Beethovens don't 'rock out' as well as other speakers I've heard, but they do vocals and acoustical pieces amongst the best I've heard in their price range. FWIW, I'm using Threshold amplification. I haven't heard the Revel's. I also have a friend that owns a pair of Dynaudio Audience 82's, they are pretty nice. I'd like to give them a listen in my system someday.
Regards,
John
Regards,
John