B&W 683s2. Stereophile review coming soon. Others out there already.

I have been extremely impressed with every PSB speaker I have heard. The PSB Imagine T is $2200 / pair. I feel like they are more detailed than the Monitor Audio Silvers yet almost perfectly neutral. It is a really sweet speaker and IMO, worth your time to seek out and give a listen.

At the low end, the Polk RTi A9 might be worth a listen at $1500 a pair. I am not a huge fan but lots of people are and they are typically not difficult to find.

You would need a subwoofer with them, but the Focal Chorus 726s are a darn nice speaker. Focal makes wonderful sounding speakers, but they don't deliver deep bass.

With your budget, if you prefer bookshelf speakers, I heartily recommend Bowers & Wilkins CM5 or CM6 series 2; with B&W stands (the 5's are within budget, 6's slightly north). I owned the CM5 series ones and regret parting with them to this day. Amazing little boxes of magic. I found with careful room placement and listening position, they readily achieved 40 Hz and so a subwoofer was unnecessary.

Respectfully,

Ronald R. Stesiak, PhD
National Science Foundation

The monitor Audio Silver Series 6 and 8 are excellent.

I think it would just at this point be up to the OP's ears on:

Monitor Audio Silver 6/8 vs. B&W CM5/6

Just be aware that the Monitor Audios are floor standers, but they seem to have a fairly small footprint and will of course extend further into sub-bass than the book shelves, so if you listen to RAP especially or other very low Bass music, that may lean the debate over to the Monitor Audios. But I still stand by B&W ..again..it will be up to you.

I would *LOVE* to audition those and be in a position to buy them! I am positively green with envy!

Best of Luck,

Ron

rrstesiak wrote:

I would *LOVE* to audition those and be in a position to buy them! I am positively green with envy!

I just finished doing that. Interesting journey.

Kal:

I am sure I speak for many of us: What were your observations!?

Kind Regards,

Ron

rrstesiak wrote:

I am sure I speak for many of us: What were your observations!?

All in print now or forthcoming.

Kal:

I look forward to your review!

Cheers,

Ron

I assume you mean the Diamond 250s at $1599 a pair. I have not heard them and have not found a review. WhatHiFi reviewed the 230s and gave them a 5 star rating, then stripped a star after Q Acoustics introduced the Concept 40.

Both Monitor Audio and Wharfedale make stupidly good speakers for the money. As does PSB. MA and Wharfedale hit different price points and different qualities. Monitor Audio Silver falls between the Diamond and Jade lines both in price and in quality. I would take the MA Silvers over the Diamonds but would take the Wharfedale Jades over the Silvers. Not that it matters, but I would take the Monitor Audio Golds over the Jades. IMO, they are stepped and what you are getting as an increasing lever of transparency with each speaker line as you rise in price.

If you can find a dealer to audition them, I would recommend trying to find the Infinity Reference 263s. Harman has leveraged a lot of learnings from the Revel Performa3 line and incorporated it into the Infinity line. Particularly the tweeter. These absolutely outperform the price point at $1000 a pair. They lack the finish of the Revels, but are awesome speakers for the money.

The Reference line is a big step up from the Primus line. Harman intended it to sit between the Primus's and the Performa3s. Not in the same league as the Silver 8s or the Q900s though. It was the mention of the Wharfedale Diamonds that prompted me to suggest that.

Anything by Thiel!

Old Thiel or new Thiel?

When I saw my face in the mirror this morning it made me think the only things from Kentucky that gets better with age are bourbon and our wives. But then again, we drink allot of bourbon, so I'll have to trust our tourist regarding how pretty our wives are.

But, I digress.

Thiel has never particularly impressed me. In fact, as far as Kentucky audio is concerned, I think Eminence makes a far better driver. Unfortunately we rarely see them executed in a domestic speaker.

Same price - the KEFs are the only restricted class A speaker under a 10K price point. The X14's do not show up in the recommended component list at all, but get an honorary mention in the 2014 recommended products budget category.... then we also get a 9/14 review by Robert Reina calling the X14s the best bookshelf speakers under 2K... What gives?

Philharmonic Audio's BMR Philharmonitor, $1400 per pair.

http://philharmonicaudio.com/BMR%20Philharmonitor.html

ELAC S12EQ powered subwoofer, $700 each.

http://elac.us/subwoofers/