Must Hear Speakers in $10K range

Hi Ron hope you are doing well
((May consider adding a good quality sub and some good quality NOS tube in my pre, that should really free up my speakers.))
The problem when you add just one sub is that we cant turn it low enough to not murk up our already good mid range
also when you add a sub you will be doubling up in the same bass area that your main speakers produce causing more of the same confusion or unnatural bass spotlighting
Possible Solution for you would be to add a pair of Vandersteen 2WQs and the X5 battery high pass units
this would clean up the transition of your main speakers
by high passing to the 2 subs clean transition and you would be able to adjust for just the correct amount of bass tightness without harming the integrity of you midrange
as well as unloading your main amp allowing it to play well above its normal ability
Of course a pair of Five as and Quatros already does this with the High pass units and adds in room compensation to boot.
please let me know if you have any questions
Best John Rutan
973 239 1799

There are several suggestions above that would not likely have you wanting for a sub (I can speak first hand for Daedalus and Coincident). If you are going to go that direction I'd second the suggestion you go with more than one sub, and would add to your short list of speakers to audition, AudioKinesis, who do offer a wonderful implementation of multiple subs (Duke's "Swarm" system) in some of their speaker offerings. Outstanding and seamless integration of low frequencies via multiple subs, assuming that's what you are after. To keep it simple, with fewer boxes, some of the suggestions above are able to reproduce fairly low with control and integration. Right at your stated budget a Daedalus Ulysses would make a sub mostly redundant, but for the most demanding bass heads.

I like easy to drive speakers and the best in your budget range are probably the Coincident Technology Super Victory's (~$!0,000) and the Vaughn Cabernet's (~$8,500). For used you may find a Coincident Technology Total Victory IV that lest new at $15,000.

Greg

Decisions, decisions but I leaning more to the time aligned speakers, Quatros...

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1329424632&/Aerial-20T