My journey to search for standmount bookshelf speakers...


Over the years, I’ve auditioned several speakers:

System Audio SA706 - Sound really good with classical music with state of the art recording, otherwise I would not consider it as forgiving kind of sound on some less than perfect recording, the high can become pretty hot sizzling, no sibilance though, just a bit bright if listen for a long time, but I have no complain on bass except drum kicks music

Chario Syntar 516R - Sound crisp and clear, thus not so forgiving on some recordings sensitive to treble, though no sibilance found, bass not as clean as others I’ve listened

PSB Alpha B1 - Small little speakers that sound great, a bit glaring on the tweeters over long listening sessions, bass limited due to small woofer size

Q Acoustics 2020i - The best smooth treble I’ve ever heard, I found nothing to complain on the mid & high, rich but not overly lust, bass though again due to limited woofer size not dynamic and fast enough

Elac B6 - Oh, sound pretty balanced, neat and vivid, overall presentation is clean and clear, bass is varied based on recording, I would say it sound a bit light on some, some just right, treble compare to Q Acoustics a little bit less smooth, most probably a better amp will do better, but I’m not sure how much you have to spend again

Dynaudio Focus 110 - I actually feel in awe when listening to this speakers with first track Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird - Finale (from album Tutti!), a small speakers that sound so big dynamic powerful, surprisingly the Focus series is pretty forgiving on some old recordings, very listenable, the only weakness I would say is the woofer a bit stiff for drum music, and frequency cutoff by the crossover design, instead of rolled off I’ve experienced from other speakers I’ve auditioned, I’ve to say the high really special on this

Currently, I own Wharfedale Denton classic speakers, very forgiving speakers, a bit of mid bass bump kind of speakers, high is not as clean as Dynaudio Focus 110 but still sound smooth without hot sizzling effect, the bass is considered not powerful and dynamic enough

Guys, what else I can look for at this price range?

128x128wim1983
I may be late to the party here, but you should consider Wavetouch Audio's (Alex Yoon) Antero's. Not only gorgeous but a wonderful sound - they use the AMT (Air Motion Transformer) 2" tweeter .. .... three words come to mind: neutrality, transparancy and realism. Highs are so sweet, have a nice bass extension and very detailed mid range. And when they're broken in .... they disappear into the wood work~!
You should look at ATC and PMC. Your comments suggests that you really notice the true dynamics of music when playing Dynaudio. Some people are not very sensitive to this aspect but obviously you noticed it. Many suggestions above are good but they won't have that "awe" effect that you noticed with a pro-driver that does not compress as easily as home audio gear. Dynaudio make and use better drivers than the usual consumer stuff. Same for ATC and PMC. 
@shadorne I'm eyeing on ATC SCM11 v2, price is not cheap but at least affordable, I read somewhere claimed that this is a redesigned for home users and more forgiving to listen compare higher end pro series like SCM20 and models beyond that, what do you think? My only concern would be the Yamaha A-S801 amp gear matching, not sure the total package include DAC works well with the ATC?
@tak1 Thanks for your suggestion, actually I got take into consideration for the speaker, but I still dun like how it look and need to sound better with the phase plug, and the ribbon tweeters does not look ok to me too, besides that, I'm not able to audition the speakers too
You get what you pay for. ATC make their own drivers in the U.K. in small volumes. You have to decide whether the diminishing returns of a better build are worth it - many speakers can do a great job at lower listening levels where compression and distortion due to non linearities are less of an issue. ATC are not hard to drive but they certainly require a beefy amp - so that is a consideration too!