Which Speaker in the 4-6K Range?

Maybe I'm the new kid without being in the know (I haven't gotten to listen to most of the previous speakers recommended, but nonetheless here is my 2 cents: Kef Reference Four Model Two. They meet all of your criteria, and are gorgeous. I wish I had the extra 2 grand to purchase them when I bought my SL-3's (which I adore). A local dealer played the "dark side of the moon" and I was hooked, it was like a religious experience. I didn't know "traditional" speakers could sound that good.

Within your budget and specifications there are but two contenders: the silverline Sonata and the Coincident Super Eclipse. I am less familiar with the second. I heartily recommedn the Sonata. You cannot go wrong either way, but get good, clean amplification and the best front end you can afford, and make sure you have a good room, since these are revealing speakers !

I recently auditioned the Silverline Sonata's (just because they were there) but was not in the market for a speaker in their price range. I actually thought (at the time) that they retailed for $3500.00, so I was not influenced by their real world $5000.00 (if this is accurate, I picked it up at another review site) price tag. Neither the accompanying equipment or their set up was ideal, but nonetheless they were a very impressive set of speakers and well worth an audition in your price range IMO. I am by no means an expert on contemporary high end speakers but even given the limitations of the audition would compare them with older Quad ESL's, Magnapans, etc., for their detail and musicality, plus they had a very impressive low end that I am sure would have been even more impressive under more ideal listening conditions. I find it odd to audition speakers in a room full of other speakers that suck and deaden the music from the test speakers, but this is usually the case in most hifi shops. I originally went to this shop to audition the less expensive Coincident speaker line but did not listen to the high end model listed above. The dealer no longer carried the line and just had a few demo models left in stock. They (the Sonata's) were originally hooked up to an expensive Denon HT receiver and sounded just so so. We switched them to an Audio Research D120 tube amp and an AR tube preamp and that is when the music started. The combo did not sound very tube like, but did sound good.

Dekay, your comparison with Quads and Maggies is interesting. How did the Sonatas sound in terms of transparency, imaging and soundstage? I admit that I'm hooked on transparency and detail but my electrostatics compromise the low end, which bothers me once in a while.

I should have mentioned that when comparing the Super Eclipses (which come without a grill), you should remove the grills from the Sonatas. They sound much better that way!