help narrowing down my list of speakers, $2500

Let me guess..It will take you 5 more years to get the right speaker based on the list that you have.

Gallo Reference 3!! Gallo Reference 3!! Gallo Reference 3!! The most amazing speakers I have heard in the last 10 years: superb imaging, very quick on transients, awesome soundstage. You *owe* it to yourself to audition these wonderful speakers.

-rw-

Of your listed brands so far, my personal favorite would be Totems. However, in that price range, with a bit of negotiating, you should be able to get some really good offerings from either Thiel or ProAc, both of which do a good job on rock (and pretty much everything else), IMHO.

One other consideration that would save you some money would be NHT ST-4's. They retail for about $1,000, but I was extremely impressed with them, and it is my belief that they best many speakers in the $2,500 price range. I certainly prefer them to B&W's, but then again, I have never really been a fan of B&W's (as you can probably tell, given that I like Thiel, ProAc, Totem, and NHT).

On the used market, a pair of Thiel CS3.6's make for one heck of a bargain. That's what I have in my system. I drive them with a pair of amps costing about four times what I paid for the speakers (Theta Enterprises), and to my ears, the 3.6's are worthy of just about any gear you would put upstream of them. Of course, 3.6's in a 12 x 12 room... probably not a good idea. 2.4's might be awefully nice, though.

Yep, Boa2 wasn' sure about the Silverlines. I know I had the SR17's at the top of my list when looking for a bookshelf. If I hadn't got such a good deal on the FS688's I'd probably have the SR17's now.

I know the SR17s can do Bach or Rock. The name "Sonata II" and some of the other names SL uses on their floorstanders, made me wonder if they wern't maybe voiced different.

I agree if you are going to get floorstanders in a 12x12 room, why not get something that goes deep enough and eliminate the sub.

Best Wishes Maxx

I was in your situaiton and I was considering many in your list... I might settle with JM Lab this time.

This is widening your choice rather than narrowing down but,
You might want to consider Soliloquys and Von Schweikerts

Von Schweikerts Jr4 can be pick up at pretty good price these days!