Narrowing down floorstander selection.

Have you considered the Revel F30 or the smaller M20 speakers?

Both are good, the F30 is full range and the M20 is smaller and has decent bass, but not really full range.

The F30 used goes for about $2-3K, and the M20 used goes for about $1,500.

You might want to give them a listen. Good sound and good build quality.

Good Luck in your search.

I agree that the M20 is a fantastic speaker. I've owned it twice. I'm sure the F30 is good as well, although I haven't heard it. I would personally recommend the audio physic virgo. Used they can be had for about 2200 and will have the bass you are looking for I think.

If you like large scale classical then the Shahinian Arcs or Obelisks are perfect for you. Richard Shahinian designs his speakers specifically with classical in mind. The speakers are hand crafted in Medford New York. Richards loudspeakers are known for their deep bass so a subwoofer would not be required. I own the Shahinian Diapasons and love them to death. Last I knew the Arcs were $3200 and the Obelisks were $4000. You mighy even be able to buy the highly rated Shahinian Hawks with what you can save on electronics with the Shahinians. The Bedini 100 watt/side mono amplifiers are only $1500 per pair and do an excellent job driving my huge Diapasons. Richard designed the Shahinians using Bedini amps so they work very well together. You can find a review of the Hawks on the AV guide web site. Several of the reviewers from the big hi-fi mags have Shahinians as their personal speakers.

Sorry, but you really need to make this decision. It's kind of like asking 'what kind of ice cream should I buy' IMHO. It will depend on your musical tastes. I like my Vienna Acoustic Strauss, I used to own Beethovens and liked them also. My friend has a pair of Dynaudio Audience 82's, I also have a friend that has a pair of Dynaudio Contour 3.4's. They both sound good to me, but my VA's are a little warmer, to my ears, which I prefer. They think my speakers sound good, but they like the Dynaudio 'sound' better. I know of others that swear by their Vandersteen's.

I would recommend you audition them in as similar a setup as possible, and pick the flavour that you like best, instead of the flavour that someone else likes best.

Regards,
John

The only speaker on your list that is both time and phase coherent is the Vandersteen 3a, if those features are important to you. They certainly are to me. Also check out Thiel 2.4, also time and phase coherent.