B&W 802D3

It appears he has Sopra One. Nice Timbernation rack though 

Since you claim there are so many "trade ins", why not buy used and save 10k or so. If you don't like, just resell. I own 804D3s and think they are the "cat's pajamas"! I admit the bass doesn't shine unless you crank them up (6.5 inch woofs). Have you considered bi-amping? Put 200 watts on top and 300 on the bottom (per channel). You might like...

@maxking.  Best if you go audition them yourself and decide if you like how they sound and not just go off of the B&W name just because they have name recognition and are good looking.  I know Magnolia Center inside Best Buy uses them with McIntosh mono block amps (maybe same amps you have).  I, myself, have listened to several over the years and have tried to like them, but for whatever reason, the sound just does not appeal to me.  They don't captivate my attention with a "wow, holly molly" moment. After a few minutes, my attention gets diverted easily, like there is nothing special about them except for the price.  However, I do like how they look.  I'm in the Focal camp, with their pure beryllium tweeters.  The Sopra 3s are in the same price range as the 802D3.

Word of mouth reviews are generally useless.  Especially if they come form someone who has auditioned the speaker at Magnolia, which in my experience does a poor job of setting up a high quality full range speaker like the 802D3.  My local Magnolia has them pushed up right against the front wall of a small room with a hard tile floor with no rugs anywhere and a small diffuser on the back wall.  They just sound OK, far from their potentially great sound if they are properly positioned in a properly sized and treated room.  I own the 802D3, driven by Bryston 7BSTs, and it is not bright in my rig, and many visitors to my home have had a “Wow! event” after hearing them.  I love ‘em.

Maybe they don't have anything else comparable in price to compare to and comparing them to their basic receiver set up at home.