Actually I did make a decision!
I took a new job in Sept which has kept me working very hard and my mind just hasn't been into audio enough to go on audition after audition and keep that process organized and progressing.
SO! based on reading reviews and my room needs I decided to go with a set of Audio Physic Virgo II's (which I hadn't heard before!).
My room is roughly 15x13 and has almost no furniture except a couch for listening. I use a project television so there is nothing else on the speaker side of the room.
Since the Virgos are not a bi-wire set I also had to get rid of my signal cable bi-wire and upgrade to Analysis Plus Oval 9 cables.
I set the speakers up according to the Audio Physics guidelines (50% into the room, 25% away from side walls). The speakers sound great and are an obvious improvement (to myself and my friends) over the Tyler Ref Monitors.
If Virgos were to get a perfect 100 score then I would rank the Tylers at a 65 and my previous system (NHT Model 2's + receiver) a 5.
The sound of the Maggies was different no doubt. Some songs that sounded great on them don't sound very good on the Virgos, and vice versa. However I don't want to give the maggies a score as I'm not familiar enough with them to do that.
Given my room situation and desire for a less ominous speaker I think I made the right choice. Whether the Virgo's really are a better speaker than the Maggies is hard for me to say since I only had a short listening experience with the Maggies and that was so long ago. As I upgrade my ear has been getting more refined, so perhaps the next time I hear the Maggies I'll be able to see what areas they are better/worse than the Virgos. But compared to the Tylers I can say the the Virgo II's beat them in every way shape and form and if I had known what a huge improvement this was going to have been then I would have upgraded much sooner.
