Road trip to demo $10,000 speakers

skyscraper,
I'm in a similar situation to yours when you started this thread (looking to upgrade speakers with a max $10K budget), and so have followed your journey with great interest and have learned a great deal from all the discussions, especially as my knowledge about high-end audio is quite limited.  
I don't mean to re-open the discussion, but wondered if you'd be willing to share: (a) the list of the 11 speakers that were on your long shortlist, and (b) whatever template (set of questions/criteria/whatever) you used to make comparison notes on speakers.
[In case this is relevant context: I only recently auditioned my first (for me) high-end speakers (GoldenEar Triton Reference), wasn't very impressed by the improvement over my current GE Triton 7's + Hsu Research subwoofer, and so am going down the rabbit-hole, and thinking about many of the same speakers you were.  But auditioning for me will require many separate trips over an extended period of time, as I'm in a small midwest town, and different speakers are carried by numerous different dealers scattered in a 3-4 hour radius.]

Thanks,
otinkyad

Otinkyad, The speakers on my list were:

Aerial Acoustics 7T $11,000.00
Legacy Focus SE $10,600.00
Magico A3 $9,800.00
Monitor Audio PL200 II $11,500.00
Paradigm Persona 3F $10,000.00
ProAc D48r $10,900.00
Revel F228BE $10,000.00
Spendor D9 $10,000.00
Vandersteen Treo CT $8,400.00
VonSchweikert Endeavor E3 Mk2 $8,000.00
Devore Gibbon Super 9 $9,9000

There was also a Joseph Audio model I had listed, but the closest dealer was just too far away in Pennsylvania. I had the Golden Ear Triton Reference on the list too but no dealers nearby either.

I’ve since thrown all my notes away, but some of the things I was looking at was how clear and detailed their presentation was, what equipment was being used to demo them. You have to insist, and best call ahead of time, if you want them demoed with equipment similar to what you have or plan to get,. Otherwise they often use way better amps and sources than you’ll ever be able to get. Some refuse to even do that.

I took notes on how tight the bass response was, the quality of the upper midrange and treble response. Also their appearance, size, and how well they’d fit into our home without clashing with its furnishings. A lot of the towers especially are big, garish and imposing looking. I also had to find out how close they could be placed to a wall, as I had to place them close as possible, and whether they were ported or not, as I was avoiding ported ones due to the wall closeness issue. I had dealers move the speakers as close to the wall as possible, even when I could see the were getting annoyed as they can weigh a ton and took notes on that.

I also took notes on how each recording I brought along sounded as well as a couple I had them pick out, that they knew would show off the speakers well. There might of been other things I’m not recalling but that should give you a good start. Also overall impressions and anything distinctive about their sound. I also noted how well they sounded at varied sound levels and from outside the room for reasons explained in the thread by others.

Happy hunting. It’s a lot of fun. Watch out and note if some dealers are getting slick or not being helpful, because you might have to deal with them again if you have any problems. I ran into a couple of them.  I noted how the speakers would be shipped if not in stock. If you're hours away from the store they can find out for you if the manufacturer will direct ship to your house. Magico will they found out, which is what I'm having done. Hope this helps.

Mike

@skyscraper Congrats on your A3's! I heard them just the other week on Hegel gear and they were mighty impressive. As always though, it is hard to tell how they will sound in my system, in my home but it left an impression on me that I am finding hard to forget. 

I also am considering the Proac D48R. Did you get a chance to listen to those and how would you compare them to the Magico's?

That’s exactly how I felt Freesole.. I didn’t get to hear the Proacs. They were to be my next stop to audition on my trip to DC, but I was so impressed by the Magico’s I just had to have them. Their sound was just so crisp and clear, and had an un-speaker like quality I couldn’t easily describe. Even some extremely expensive speakers I’ve heard didn’t have it. I’ve heard Quad electrostatics with that quality, and an old Ohm tower years ago that had that aspect in the upper frequencies, but not top to bottom.

On a much, much smaller scale, it was a little like when I met my wife of many years for the first time, thinking "wow". Sounds stupid, but it is analogous. When she was available a couple of years later I couldn’t marry her fast enough. Couldn’t buy those Magico’s fast enough either, which is why I forgot to go to the Proac demo. I’m hardly the impulsive type either, but knew I’d found what I wanted.

I expect I’ll be happy with those A3’s indefinitely too, plus write one check and you’re done, no courting involved. Real life should be as straight forward. Take care,

Mike

@ otinkyad - What is it you don't like about the current setup? When navigating the swamp a while back, the [hate the name] Golden Ear Triton series were only bested by B&W 800 D3s & dual REL subs.

Which Hsu sub do you have? [ported is a NoNo]
How is it crossed over to the 7's?
Location relative to the 7's?
Room size?