Ninjasquirt, you're right about the ElectroMotion speakers. I confess to never having been all that impressed with Martin-Logan for some time, however. But every now and again I pop in, hoping to see what the buzz is.
I was in your boat a few months ago, settled on NOLA Boxers and haven't looked back. They have every attribute that you crave. Like you, I listen to everything from classical and rap to black metal. It's hard to find an audiophile quality speaker that lets it rip as hard on metal as it does on classical. For me, the Boxers are that speaker.
Some of the biggest things for me are the way they disappear. Huge soundstage with pinpoint imaging, to boot. They have some bass, enough to satisfy me since as we know, most music doesn't contain a ton of low bass content anyhow, even hip-hop.
I'd try to give them a listen, along with others that people here have suggested. I'm responding because you mentioned the M-L mids being too lazy for metal. That won't be a problem with the Boxers.
Good luck in the quest.
