Which is the best recording of Bach's Mass in B mi

Two performances I very much enjoy are:
~ Harnoncourt, with the Concentus musicus Wien on Telefunken
~ Gardiner with the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir on Archiv

Both are historically informed performances, but beyond that they are very different from each other.

Baileyje, given the listening priorities you've mentioned, I recommend you consider a used pair of Celestion SL700 speakers. These are stand-mounted monitor speakers that should sell for about $700-800 on the current used market, with their dedicated stands. They originally sold for just under $3000 in the late 1980's. The reason for suggesting these speakers is that they are outstanding for voice and choral music, with beautiful and detailed reproduction of midrange and mid-bass (through the range of the cello). On mass choral, they have a wonderful ability to differentiate individual voices and vocal lines. I lived with a pair for over a decade, matched to a pair of 70-watt tube amplifiers.