Best bookshelf speaker?

Vandersteen VLR is my pick.
With a Belles Aria integrated, and some William Tell cables, it really sings.-Even without a sub.
I didn't believe it until I heard it with my own ears at Audioconnection.
B

The Watkins Gen4 is one I’ve been tempted to do a home trial on. Recipient of The Absolute Sound’s 2020, 2019 & 2018 Editors’ Choice Awards and their 2017 Golden Ear Award, and the price isn’t too high. $2500 iirc.

" Watkins Stereo Gen Four:
Bill Watkins has been perfecting the compact two-way since the early 1980s, and this is by far his best effort. Mating a 6.5″ Peerless woofer with a 1″ dome tweeter, the Gen Four’s bass extension and control are unheard of in such a small package. Unusually, the woofer is run without a low-pass filter, perhaps contributing to the imaging prowess and transient speed, which are spectacular for any speaker, especially one at this price."

https://www.watkinsstereo.com/shop

@will2campb   What amplification?

Are you going to stand mount them, or put them on an actual bookshelf against the wall?