new speakers/used/demo- 4K- 6K

Dunlavy SC4a. Can't go wrong if you have the room. Except for their size they do everything very well. Most of the competition do things well too but not as evenly balanced in my opinion or are a lot more expensive.

My first thought is, I like your taste in amps! The Pass Alephs (may they rest in peace) are among my favorite amplifiers.

My second thought is, that's a mighty big room you got there.

Also, I think your decision to replace rather than upgrade your present speakers is a wise one. If I might ask, what specific areas would you like to improve over what the B&W's do now?

Before indulging in making a recommendation or two, I'd like to get a better feel for what you're looking for in a loudspeaker.

Here's a list of loudspeaker qualities. The list is arbitrary; I made it up. If you want to play along, pick out the qualities that matter most to you, and feel free to add your own requirements to your personal list.

1. Good timbre (the natural sound of voices and instruments).
2. Good inner harmonic texture & nuance (you can hear all the tiniest details).
3. Good clarity and articulation (you can readily understand the lyrics, and easily pick out and follow a single voice or instrument).
4. Good dynamic contrast (liveliness).
5. Superb soundstaging for a single listener.
6. Good soundstaging over a wide listening area.
7. Rich, lush sense of hall ambience and spaciousness.
8. Natural-sounding bass.
9. Extreme deep bass extension.
10. Unobtrusive size and/or visual appeal.
11. Sounds great at low volumes.
12. Sounds great at medium volumes.
13. Sounds great at high volumes.
14. Forgiving of less-than-ideal recordings and sources.
15. Ruthlessly accurate and revealing.
16. Freedom from colorations that remind you you're listening to boxes, not live music.
17. Works well in less-than-optimum room or location.
18. Non-fatiguing over long listening sessions.
19. Gives a good jazz club/front-of-the-hall presentation.
20. Gives a good middle-of-the-hall presentation.

Some of these qualities tend to be mutually exclusive, but don't worry about that. The idea here is for us to get an idea of what things matter most to you, so that our recommendations are more likely to be in the ballpark.

Most of us would trade our left, ah, loudspeaker for a room the size of yours. Your budget gives you plenty of flexiblity, so by the time you're done, you should have an excellent system.

Best of luck to you in your quest!

Duke

AUDIOKINESIS--thank you for taking the time to put together your response. it might be easier to say which areas of concern are less important to me. the dunlevy 4a's are too large for my room--which is my living room. i first heard the aleph1.2's paired w/ 4's. Great combination--like real music--a good compromise on the detailed vs. sweetness issue. i don't want highly analytical speakers--but i crave detail and subtile sound staging details. my room is large enough for deep bass. that's nice, but tighter tuneful bass
is more important than significant energy below 35htz.i want the bass fast enough to drive jazz and rock. my current b&w metal tweeter[read: bright] is something i could live without. in miami, home demo is nonexistant & nothing sounds like the pass aleph's. from reading my demo list might include all the usual players: 802 nautilus, revel studio or performa[likely too bright, but worth trying esp w/ the aleph's], mezzo utopia's, avanti III, mahlers, cremonias, the dynaudio 3.3 or the older contour 5's. suggestions are welcome

from Duke's listings, I feel audio physic speakrs are the ones to pick. i owned Virgo, and love them. lsiten for youself, you wont be disappointed.

tim

Check out Piega while your questing. You may find something interesting.What part of the country are you located? Dealers now are displaying these speakers in NY,PA,MD,Va,NC,Fl,Il,Ca,OR,Wa,with Texas and other western states coming soon.Good luck