Narrowing down floorstander selection.

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.

I personally would go with the Vandersteen in that list too.The F30's are also an excellent choice. Though dont do it because they are "phase and time" correct. Phase and time correct speakers dont equal a better listening experience or better soundstaging for that matter. If our listening rooms didnt have reflective surfaces then this may be something to be worried about, but real world accoustics prove otherwise. But before you buy any speakers, audition them in the room they plan to be setup in first.

Well, you asked to narrow it down and got about 10 more speakers to consider.
happy?

hahahaha

Try to find some to audition at a dealer. If you already have, and think they all sound great and are still having a hard time deciding, then score some brownie pionts and ask the wife. see what she thinks as well.
Its been my experience (when i least need it) that women have a far superior sence of hearing.

uh oh.. i think shelby just heard me type that.

Have you considered Soliloquy? I have the 6.3 floorstanders. They have exceeded all of my expectations. They are around $3200 new, but can be found used/demo in the $1500-$2000 range. Also, their flagship 6.5 speakers, which new are around $6500, are in the $3-4K range used/demo. I cannot comment on the sound of my 6.3s with large scale orchestral music, but from jazz to blues to rock, electric and/or acoustic they are very strong contenders.