Well it stretches the budget a bit, but the Cliffhanger Bulldogs do some things that I haven't heard anything else their size do.
The Bulldogs are a 3-way where most of their competition is 2-way. So the woofer is better optimized for low bass. The midrange is a nice metal dome unit, which in turn allows a high enough crossover for a ribbon tweeter to be used. All of this would mean nothing if the design wasn't well executed and voiced, which it is.
Now, one thing the Bulldogs can do that the others cannot is give you a smooth reverberant field response. You see, your basic 6.5" two-way is going to have a ragged reverberant field response because the woofer is going to be beaming by the time it gets up to the crossover point. The Bulldogs' woofer only goes up to 900 Hz, so it is crossed over well before beaming sets in. The 2" midrange has a nice, wide radiation pattern, then the narrow ribon has excellent horizontal dispersion.
The reason this matters is because the ears derive timbre not only from the first arrival sound, but also from the reverberant field. The Bulldogs are pretty much unique in their category as far as getting this right. As a result, the Bulldogs are quite relaxing and enjoyable to listen to long-term.
The Bulldogs are voiced reminiscent of the Original Quads - sweet and with an up-front, vivid presentation - but with better dynamics and impact. That ribbon tweeter on top is very sweet, and makes it hard to go back to a regular dome.
The Bulldogs prefer to be out in the room a bit, and their bass tuning is optimized for good transient response rather than maximum extension. I can't stand boxy colorations, and the Bulldog's metal braced cabinets do an excellent job of suppressing boxiness.
I chose to carry the Bulldogs not for all these neat-o reasons, but because they were the only speaker I've heard at CES that actually brought tears to my eyes.
The Bulldogs are a relatively unheard of speaker (though they've been reviewed twice at www.soundstage.com), and are hard to find. I'd be more than happy to provide an in-home demo for 84audio (or anyone else), because that is the only way to really know if a speaker is right for you.
Best wishes to you on your quest!
