Picking Speakers 20k-30k

I'd be thinking about Audio Note and Tannoy in addition to the fine choices here.

After being at Axpona this year I'm dreaming of the Franco Serblin Ktema speakers. Just a wow listening experience for me. 

@johnk thanks for the suggestion.  I’ll take a look at DIY but my gut tells me that i don’t actually know how to engineer something that fits my listening taste, room etc…. and I’d likely end up building something random rather than geared to my desires.  I’m sure with enough time, one could engineer something awesome that hits above its weight class but I’d be concerned with ending up with a 20K wood pile. 

@grislybutter @hilde45 @rsf507  thanks for the list (and additions).  I’m only familiar with about 1/2 of the speakers on there so i have a little homework!

One follow-up: there’s at least a couple bookshelf speakers on the list (Harbeth and the Borresen are the two I’m familiar with that have stellar reviews), but I’ve never spent any time considering or listening to bookshelf options.  Are people generally running those with separate subs and happy with the results or more often used by those who either don’t desire or listen to music with much bass?  

@brewerslaw adding a sub to a bookshelf/monitor depends on the space, your bass preferences and budget. I personally wouldn't, didn't - but tried. Some bookshelves have base that's pretty full and heavy and better than messing with a sub.

One note to my list, there are at least 20 other brands with speakers in the 20K range, I am still collecting data

My overall suggestion is to go to a good audio show to hear the vast array of quite good, yet different sounds available to you, many well within your price range.  

I have not heard your brand of electronics, so I don't have so I don't have much of an idea on what would be compatible.  With some high-powered electronics, a mating with VERY high efficiency speakers would not be a good idea because many of those types of amps don't come alive when called to barely do any work.  That is why I am a bit hesitant to suggest one of my favorite reasonably price speaker which is the Charney Audio Companion with the AER driver selection (they offer other brands of drivers in that speaker, I like the AER model).  These are remarkable single driver systems that are about 100 db/w efficient and probably best suited to low-powered tube gear.  But hearing them might make you want to change up electronics as well.

I am not good with specific model names and their prices, so some of my recommendations merely mention the brand, others I have the model name.  my recommendations are as follows:

1) Cube Audio Nenuphar Basis-single driver purest might suggest their models using only one driver, but I think this two-way model with a built in powered woofer is a much more complete speaker system than their single driver speakers.

2) Fyne F1-12.  This looks like a single driver with a 12" cone, but, it has a tweeter in the center (coaxial speaker).  Fyne is a company founded by people who left Tannoy, so the speakers have a lot of similarity in design.  I happen to like the Fyne version of these speaker a little bit more.

3) Rossofiorentino.  I believe I heard the Volterra model and I think it is at or near your price range--a very lively, engaging sound.

4) I heard both of the Songer speakers that are built around a full-range fieldcoil drivers  One system has just that one driver, the other is a two-way system with the fieldcoil driver in an open baffle.  I believe both models are the same price and both are terrific sounding--very alive and vivid, but not harsh or brittle sounding.

5) Acora Audio.  I heard several models, but I don't know their names or their prices but they struck me a quite lovely sounding without being harsh or brittle.  They are also reasonably compact and should fit into almost any room easily.