Epos M 12, Quad 11L or Von Schweikert VR - 1

I own Quads and love them - but you should probably add the Green Mountain Audio Europa's to your listening list.

Haven't heard the Quads, but between the other two, get the VR-1s. Beautifully balanced. Epos is too sterile for my taste. Then later if you get the bug, there's mods offered on the Vr-1s now. And if you want you can snag the matching sub later. Inexpensive, tasty, and very flexible.

I owned the Epos M12's for a year and would completely disagree about them being sterile. They are very neutral, musical, have GREAT bass for a monitor, and are full of PRAT and detail. I compared them to Green Mountain Europa's, which many consider one of the best monitors at any price, and the Epos held their own quite well and in some areas were better. They do need good partnering, I wouldn't partner them with aggressive components or your top end will get a little bright.

Regards,

PS - I did end up selling them and getting the Europa's.