I auditioned a few yesterday at a local store, none of which were mentioned here, but I will share some of the experiences. I went to listen to the Aerial 10T's, and of course, they are discontinued. There is a new 10T coming out in 6-12 mos, though, supposedly with the 20T's ribbon tweeter. I listed to the 20T's. Awesome. Amazing detail, soundstage, presence, does everything a speaker should do well, and for $20K retail, it should! Wilson Wattpuppy 6: Nice speaker, but other than a more "present" midrange, was not as good in any category as the 20T. B&W 801 and 802. Surprisingly not that great compared to the 20T's. I think some of it had to do with the electronics difference (Mark Levinson v. Krell) and the setup of the speakers (801's were in a huge showroom), but the 801's just did not resolve the soundstage in a clear way, i.e., the instruments did not assume a coherent position on a hypothetical stage, the way the 20T's did. Same with the 802's (which are less than 50% of the 20T's of course). 10K+ is way out of my price range, of course, but fun listening. I wonder what the old 10T's sound like compared to the 20T's? Anyone know? I also listened to the Joseph Audio rm33si, which sounded very nice (for $7500), better than the 802's, I think, but again,the setup was significantly less than ideal. So that's the take so far!
