Still looking for speakers in the 10-20,000 range

1. Magnepan 20.7’s
2. Vandersteen Quattro’s Wood CT

Cheers 

Forget Magico. Forget Magico completely. For that size room and your electronics I can’t recommend the Vandersteen Quatro enough. They excel with Audio Research amplifiers because they only need to produce 100hz and above for the Vandersteen speaker. The bass is driven by dual 200 watt sub-woofer amplifiers, which allow the mid range in the system to really thrive. I’ve had several of the other speakers you mention and will tell you that the Quatro’s will smoke anything you will put in front of them at that price point. Magico is no good with your Audio Research gear. Magico speakers need a really strong ultra bandwidth amp that has a really high damp factor to control the bass in that speaker. Tube amps don’t have that at all. An Ayre MXR 20 amp, Boulder Amp, Constellation Audio, Spectral, Naim Nap 500 would all be good options for the Magico but not an Audio Research tube amp. I don’t care what the sales guy says it’s not a good choice.

My second recommendation is the ProAc Response D 48 R. ProAc voices their speakers with amplifiers from Naim and Audio Research. That speaker is $12,000 and sounds like a $40,000 giant killer. It’s a 4 ohm load and your ARC amp will love it! I have a pair and can’t say enough about it. The Vandersteen is built with a better fit and finish than the ProAc and it’s made in America.  Vandersteen also has a new sub coming out that will allow you to further tune the bass into the room and really let the mid range shine.  I've 

@ozzy They didn't play rock when I heard the Kanta 2 but from what I have read they have really good bass but not very loud or extremely deep. They only have 6.5" woofers and can probably struggle with rock in a large room.

Was it the quality or the lack of bass that you didn't like?
(just curious)

ozzy,

I'm not one to ask about subwoofers.  I've only just bought some JL subs myself (110E) that I'm going to try and integrate with my Thiel speakers.  I'm a total newbie with subs.

Guys, the problem you run with adding subs in any system is integration of the subs.  It's VERY VERY hard to get subs that share the same sound as the main speaker.  This is one thing that Vandersteen was able to do.  I know many of you have subs and love them etc... and that's cool. I"m not trying to rain on your parade.  I you go read how Vandersteen does the crossover adn how his amp is able to pick up the same sonic character as the main amps, then you will understand what I'm saying.  I too felt the Focal's bass was good, but very limited, especially in this price range.  Many think I'm married to Vandy's, but it's MY money and I want what I personally like best, so I went with the Quatro's as I didn't' hear anything under 20k (and more) that I liked nearly as much overall.  I play a ton of old rock and there is plenty of bass, plus it's tunable as I've said before. That's so important in most rooms.  It's not the digital Turing either, that does negatively affect the sound if you listen closely.  I felt the set up was easy. The dealer came over to do that part.  The PRoac would also be my second choice.