Best MONITORS availables

WHY PRE-DEFINE what "BEST" means? #1-everyone would agree that small speakers are not going to produce real bass below 30Hz, and perhaps not even 40Hz. so without a sub-woofer, you're limited, from a strictly SOTA perspective, from properly reproducing anything you wish to listen to. #2-without really deep bass you're giving up the deepest/widest possible soundstage as well. that doesn't mean i would throw a pair of magico's out of the window- quite the opposite; i would be thrilled to have a pair. but since i already have a pair of sonus faber guarneri homages, i have recently decided to go ahead and TRY a pair of JBL L-830 speakers- newly designed 6in. three-ways. BTW, they are available on U-BID for $335 shipped. but before you declare me legally insane, i also have the older jbl studio-26's (6in. 2way). after MUCH deliberation over the fact that i have VERY limited placement options without getting rid of all my bedroom furniture (except for the bed), and wanting speakers that bridge the gap between the RESOLUTION OF ACOUSTIC MUSIC and punchy dynamic sound on "most kinds of music" (fusion jazz, pop, rock, techno), i'm dying to try this experiment, pass or fail. the OLDER jbl's sound fantastic on SANTANA ABRAXAS (the latest redbook remaster) driven by a 35w/ch teac amplifier, but they muddle up the midrange on my Handel and Bach cd's; they don't image very well or stage well (no surprise there). therefore, i want to see if the L-830's with a newer crossover and a new midrange AND tweeter, can separate out the instruments with greater clarity, without ruining my enjoyment of rock and roll cd's and my large collection of cassette tapes (many of them made with metal tdk's). i still don't expect them to compete with audiophile speakers in those "certain areas". but they should be able, from what i've researched, to hold up pretty well no matter what i throw at them, and their bass performance, judging from the S-26's, should be simply phenomenal. if you doubt what i say, read the stereophile review of the S-38's; even though they're rated down to 45hz, the reviewer commented that they seemed to be producing MUCH lower frequencies with ease. cheap as they were ($400), and lacking some refinement compared to much more expensive brands, the reviewer liked the way they sounded anyway- alot. go figure...

Delta Summits by Intuitive Design

I've audtioned a few monitors
Focus 688, Refererence De capo, Audio Note ANJ while they all had their strengths there was something missing when they were demoed in my room

I ended up trusting a friends ears and buying the Tonian Acoustics TL NFSM unheard.

I'm always hunting for better but at what price ?

this is my 2 cents ...

The Gamut L3 and the Dyanaudio C1 get my vote,closely followed by the Green Mountain Callito's,I would love to hear the Sasons and the Escalante Fremounts,I wasnt very impressed with Maggico's and the Micro Utopia's were very good in the topend and uppermidrange,but not very impressive in the bass and lower midrange.

The Gamut L3 is a fine musical specimen I heard it paired with Gamut Electronics - Very impressive

I have not heard the Magico yet