KEF, ProAc, Monitor Audio and others

Sorry but I don't understand the comments about 2D vs. 3D.  I am not a techie--just a music lover who is trying to decide which speakers to buy for my two channel system.  I don't even know what 3D audio is and I'm not planning to change my system other than the speakers.  I just want natural sounding speakers with a realistic sound stage, great imaging, decent bass,the ability to hear and pinpoint solo instruments in classical music and to hear the breadth and width and depth of an entire orchestra as if you are in the concert hall. 

My current short list is the KEF Reference 3, Monitor Audio PL300ii, and Paradigm Persona 3 and 5.  Haven't yet heard the 5 but will do so later this week.  There are so many others and I appreciate the suggestions  but I've ruled some out either because I didn't like them as well or because they're not available for audition in my area.  

I've reached the point where I have 3 or 4 good choices, I don't want to drag this on forever and it's a matter of deciding which I like the best.  I'll see how I like the Paradigm Persona 5 and whether it's really worth 70% more than the 3.  I may take the Monitor Audio dealer up on his offer to deliver the floor model to my house and let me listen for a week but I don't think it's fair to do this if I am more interested in another speaker.  Also, I may take another listen to the KEFS.  It will depend on whether I like the Paradigms enough to make a decision or whether it's still a tough call and I need to revisit the others.  I'm also wondering whether, with the CES a month away, I should wait to see if there are any new announcements. Thanks everyone for your help!

I am working in sound&vision almost 20 years. And I have done thousands of tests. In real you can hear in a 3D spectrum. This means you can hear sound in depth and even in height.

Most audio products onlu are able to create a lot less than 1 metre of stage depth. This means it will make the stage less deep and wide. It is as voices and instruments are crushed togheter.

The best audio products are able to create a stunning level in a 3D holographic stage. And this also comes a lot closer than how in real we experience music and sound.

I brought many people since 2009 from 2D to 3D sound. It had a hude influence on how often they use their systems. The most used words we hear is that people experience their systems as addictive.

And 3D system does a lot with your human emotion. Sound becomes a lot more intimate and intense when you audition it in a 3D spectrum. You are pulled into the music. It brings you closer to the music

Words are use a lot of our clienst who listen first to a 2D system are; it creates more distance between you and the music. And it is a lot less tangible and apparant.

All Kef demoes we auditioned in shops and shows all proved to create a 2D stage. Beside that many Blade and Reference demoes showed a too much distortion in the middel freq. It created a more harsh sound even at a modest volume level.

When you connect a 2D source or amp to a 3D loudspeaker the endresults still gives you a 2D stage.

When you audition a high level in 3D stage, all instrumentd and voices become so much more tabgible and stand more free in space. In real volices and instruments are very direct and apparant.

When I did shootouts bewteen 2D audio vs 3D audio all people choose for the 3D sound. That is why I stopped selling any kind of 2D audio in 2009. Even women get excited when you demo music in a 3D stage.

But most men come home with a 2D system where voices and instruments are not played tangible and apparant from eachother.

The emotion is inside the music. You only can reveal all the details and emotion when a loudspeaker can reveal all the information of the recording. Most products and brands miss essential parts on which sound is founded.

It depends which amp your dealer will bring you. Because when it is a 2D amp and you also use a 2D source you will listen to a dissabled audio system.

You need the right properties so you can reach all the different talents and properties the Monitor Audio possesses.

In Munic the Paradigm showed  a full flatt 2D stage.  Stage depth is a difficult part which should  be there to listen to a realistic stage.

You only can understand audio when you understand both sound and music. The sound you hear at home of your  own system is being created by all the different properties of each individual part in your system and the acoustics and all other parts who have a negative influence on the sound and stage.

When you cannot think in properties your system will be created bt trial and error. This is the same as russian roulette. There is no foundation on why you made the combination you choose. 

Audio by using the right properties is superior in endresult compared to any audio system created by trial and error. The facts proof over and over again that trial and error systems are incomplete.

Each single audio system whai is incomplete will create a much lower level in emotion and intensity. Because all the different properties of sound can influence our emotion.

Each system what can reveal more information and emotion will be chosen by each single person. Because this is how our emotion works.

Given what you're looking for you should try to hear Joseph Audio Perspectives if at all possible.  You seem to know what you like when you hear it so just trust your own ears and forget all this other hoopla.  Best of luck. 

Always take as much time as you need. This part of looking for new speakers can create a lot of fun and pleasure. Just enjoy it and will find the sound and stage you like.