Impossible to answer without more details of your personal taste, music preference, room, and the rest of your system. It is like asking what is the best food under $20.
I purchased used Aerial 10t for $1500 and can't even think of better ones at any larger price point! Would never ever go to purchase Bowers, Logans of any model since they're not my type at all with any electronics. Many folks would praise Maggies too, but again whatever YOU like is the MOST important factor alas from any number of votes per speaker you may get.
Sometimes you don't know what you're looking for until you find it. For me in my room it is Acoustic Zen Adagios. I went through a bunch of highly rated and similarly priced speakers looking for the right ones. Took a chance on the Adagios and as soon as I hooked 'em up and played music I knew that something special happened and everything I was looking for fell into place. I'm not sure they would've worked in my last home because the music room was twice the size but they sound like they were made for my current setup and preferences. After buying and selling my way through at least half a dozen "great" speakers I have learned that they're only a good value if I like them. Sounds obvious but points up the fact value is in the ear of the beholder.
Maggie 3.6, 3.7, 1.7 all give a lot of music for money invested. Add to that the Legacy new floor standers at about 5k. They are real winners as well. Jallen
To my liking I found after comparing believe it or not 21 different speakers some above 5k are the new R900 series from kef. That does not say they would be your best.
The Maggie 3.7 will sound absolutely dreadful when driven by a SET amp. As I said earlier. We can't take a component totally out of the system and its listening environment and call it the best. Audio system doesn't work this way.
If I were you, I'd look for Maggies providing you have the electronics to do them justice, or Vandersteens. I would not ever go to anything esoteric...
Plenty of good nominations, but if you want stellar soundstage and imaging, full-range performance, fast, smooth midrange and treble, bass into the 20s, excellent sensitivity and dynamic range, the GoldenEar Triton 2 rewrites price/performance at $3K/pair.
Demo Kingsound King listed here for $4,800 which includes shipping in continental U.S.
I reviewed the King for Dagogo.com, bought it and use it (see my system pics) as a reference speaker in reviewing. Relative to the performance level of the speaker that price is a gift.
Vapor Audio Cirrus at $3695 is a ridiculous value. $1000 pair of tweeters, $800 pair of woofers, stacked Baltic Birch ply cabinets, and top quality crossover components. Obviously not much profit margin built into that design, but isn't that the definition of value?
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