Owners of speakers by obscure companies chime in

Hi RMS2: How do the Continuums sound on Orchestral and Jazz? At low volumes?

I listen to lots of jazz and some orchestral recordings as well. If the recording is quality then it sounds amazing - like you are there in front of the musicians - depending on the microphone placement during the recording. My favorite recordings are those where the engineer represents the spacial arrangement of the musicians exactly as they would be in a concert setting - that way you truly get a holographic sound stage and can visualize the performers in front of you. And I find that the speakers sound great at all volumes. I usually listen at faily low levels, however at the louder volumes they really move air. I like to listen at a level that is close to what it would be live. For example listening to Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard I set it to what the piano would be if the trio were right in front of me. And when I close my eyes I am transported to the Village Vanguard - the trio is right there - really amazing. And I have a baby grand in my studio too so I have that as verification of what I am hearing through the speakers.

I'll toss in Selah Audio. Haven't really seen anything on them beyond their website and forum over at AudioCircle... they've shown at a few shows like RMAF.

I have the Tanzanites, S7's, Sardonyx center, and Whomp sub. These are currently setup haphazardly in a basement office/bedroom waiting basement development so can't really say how well they will sound, but no complaints so far.

Volume knob on my Nuforce is at 12.5.

B.E.S.L. speakers from Indiana have been my mainstay for several years now. I met the owner, Phil Bamberg quite accidently at a cafe. He overheard a conversation that I was having with my son and chimed in. Somehow, the conversation turned to audio, and I ended up at his house listening to some very fine speakers. In the end, i purchased a pair for myself, and that was more than 8 years ago,quite a record for me as far as keeping a set of speakers. He is still selling a few models (mine were about 2,200 dollars). Only recently I have decided to sell these great speakers and build a single driver set of speakers. anyway, what were the odds?

Which of these companies allow you to try (at home) before
you buy them (and just pay shipping costs, I assume)?