5-10k budget... so many choices


So its that time of year where I get to combine my tax return and annual bonus.  I am looking at stepping into the world of hi-fi and the more I research the more questions I have.  I am mainly looking at creating a 3.2 soundstage for 50/50 home theater and music listening.  I originally started out with a budget of 5k but after listening to step ups I am open to increasing my budget to ~10k.  I have listened to the B&W 702's, 804's, 803's the GoldenEar Reference, the Focal Kanta 2's, and Martin Logan 60t's.  After listening I was quickly able to eliminate the ribbon style of the Martin Logan, as for the GoldenEar's and the lower B&W's I was impressed with the accuracy and composure of both speakers and could have otherwise been quite content but it all changed once I heard the Focal's and 803's. I truly felt them, they gave me that indescribable goosebump feeling and I dont know if I can go back.  So far if I had to pick one, I would hands down go with the Focals, but since I am starting from the ground up I want a speaker that can grow with my setup.  Initially I will be using a Marantz 7012 AVR but will eventually add either 2 channel or dual mono block amplification.  At any rate I was curious what other speakers in this range give that feeling of experience and presence, the goosebumps.  Ideally I would like to be able to incorporate a center channel and dual subs but at this point I put more priority on the quality and clarity of the towers as they are the stars of the show.  Anyway I appreciate and thank you for any feedback and ideas.

Cheers
128x128lowspark
Post removed 
I'm in your price range chasing the magic and its got me stuck in analysis paralysis. I've ended up leaning toward the new Dynaudio Contours but have not pulled the trigger yet. 
Lowspark
i am Seattle lesser .... offer still stands but
Victor and Bob at Advanced will take great care of you

as for the Seattle area ?
stores in Silverdale, Gig Harbor, Tacoma, and at least 3 in Seattle proper, plus another Lynn wood, so decent....some shops run out of homes that come and go....
I had the opportunity to listen to the f208 by revel and the 1028 be, kanta and sopra 2 by focal.  All were powered by a Macintosh 5200 integrated and rega cd player. 

The room was setup wider side having the speakers against it and not any acoustical treatments on the walls.  No doubt the audio equipment tested would sound better in a room setup for listening specifically.  I asked why the room had no acoustic treatment other than defusers set behind the speakers?  The sales person said we want to portray the speakers in an environment similar to what you would have in a typical home.

The revel F208 was the most linear and balanced speaker I have listened to upto the 5k  range and I would have been completely happy with these had i never listened to a speaker with beryllium tweeters or mid range.  The detail and image of speakers with beryllium are just in an entirely different league to my ears.

The 1028 be was a pleasant speaker but not for me.  This speaker was the most focused sharpest imaging speaker I have listened too to date.  There seemed to be a bit of over emphasized areas in the highs and the lows that seemed to come and go depending on music type (it felt like certain frequency ranges were over compensated for which caused an unnatural bump).  Perhaps the room was somewhat to blame but the same room and equipment powering others were all much smoother to my ears.

The Kanta was a great speaker very smooth and slightly laid back driven by the equipment in the test room.  I enjoyed the detail and sound stage that was nice and in focus although not as hyper focused as the 1028 be.  Great overall speaker it is very close to the persona 3f I listened too before.  The personas have just a sweeter mid and top end where the kanta plays down lower more linear than the personas.  I personally would want a sub with either but the kanta can get away without one.

The sopra 2 was a great speaker sounding very much like that kanta and it just had a little more of everything from detail to low end extension.  The one thing that was odd to me about this particular setup was the image was very forward with these.  The image was also unnaturally wide an even with the front speakers or even slightly forward of that.  Again this is probably due to the room setup and lack of acoustical treatments. I have seen these 15k speakers demo or used for 11k or so many places which makes them a bargain.
(((I am completely taken back by your continued mention of Raidho speakers being “bright” or too detailed. They have perhaps the most magical tweeter on the planet. I haven’t ONCE heard them sound bright or fatiguing in any way.)))

I think what he meant was Raidhos can be hard to live with as not being able to play with the finesse on voicing, for example, One of our listeners that had the 70K plus Raidhos found female voices hard to live with its multiple drivers blending or transition and traded into Vandy 7s, now very satisfied.
 
As for the OP the Vandy Treo CTs should definitely be on his list as he may also discover and appreciate its unique Time correct design works as well ..
Best,
JohnnyR