Great bookshelf or small towers suggestions


I'm looking to upgrade my main speakers for home theater/music setup.

Currently have Sound Dynamic 300 ti's that are about 16 years old. I have a Marantz 5009 AV receiver and some Orbs for side and back channels. I have a sound dynamic center speaker too. The room is 11x15 with a fairly low 7' ceiling. I want to replace the LR main and Center speakers.  Budget < $5K.

floorplan:  http://tinyurl.com/zd68dqf

Soundwise I am after improved brightness and up front treble and mids. I am not the biggest bass nut - a) I have downstairs neighbors and b) I've played drums for 40 years and have heard it all. I hate being bounced out of my seat every time stuff explodes and mainly want to hear dialog better for TV and clearer more sparkly acoustic pianos and spangalang of cymbals like they're in the room with me.

So far from what I've heard in stores, I liked the Magnepan .7's a lot. But they just won't fit the space. Too wide and didn't pass WAF. I listened to a few other speakers - mid level B&W's, Golden ear, martin logan, and so far little compared to the magnepans except maybe the BW 805D3's - which are way over my budget. I thought about looking for used 805d2's. I did like a pair of Focal 714's and could probably live with them. But this is the last pair of speakers I ever want to buy. So I keep coming back to thinking about the new 805's or something close.

I've been interested in a lot of the factory direct speakers like the Sierra Tower & 2's but it bothers me to buy speakers I can't hear first.

Any advice appreciated.

Thx!
wolfernyc
Odd - I can't figure out how to PM you.   Maybe I don't have enough posts or something?   Anyway, I'd be interested in that dealer if you wouldn't mind.   wolfereeno @ gmail.

Thx!!
Hey Wolf,

You and I seem to like the same sound. Improved brightness, upfront treble and mids. Which speaker are you leaning towards now?
I really don't know yet.  I need to do a lot more listening.  Next up for me to go hear are a few PMC's, a Linn bookshelf, and then I'll have to go to another dealer to hear other things like the B&W 805's and Focals again.  I live in NYC so there are a lot of dealers. 

But I tell you I keep coming close to just buying ascend towers with the ribbon tweeters or maybe the Sierra 2's because really, I just hate the hunt and I like what I've read!

Maybe this hobby's not in my bones.  Probably whatever I buy I'll get used to!  :-)
Usually if you expect to get used to something in your system, it never happens and you end up wanting to swap it out.  You should definitely take your time and buy what you like - you'll know it right away when you hear it.

If you like the PMCs, it's a great time to get a deal on the Twenty series since the Twenty5 series just came out.  I am traveling and haven't picked up my demo Twenty.23s yet so thinking about moving up the PMC line a bit because of that.

You should also try to find a dealer that sells NEAT out there.  The Motive SX2 is a very underrated small tower speaker that simply disappears in the right sized room.