Any Thoughts On These?

lemonhaze - It’s funny you mention Vandersteens. I live a couple hours north of Seattle and made the trek to Advanced Audio Systems in Tacoma.
My wife and I listened to both The Treos and the 3As with great expectations and all I can say is that they were OK. We thought the Magnepan LRS ($650) sounded better
We have listened to many speakers that have great hype on these forums but frequently come away disappointed. Those likes, Spendor, Harbeth, Devore, Klipsch, Monitor Audio, Dynaudio, Vienna Acoustics, Focals, B&W to name a few. We are really trying our due diligence to listen to as many brands as we can without getting into the web ordered, in house demos offered by many manufactures. Being afraid of the shipping costs & restocking cost that could add up if you wish to return them.
What we have liked so far, Legacy Signature SEs, which can be custom built as actives, but a big ticket to try at home, especially if you want to return them! Triangle Australe EZs, Larsen 6.2s were OK (also nice with the fact they can be pushed up tight to the wall, as we have limited space to work with in our new digs). And lastly, djones51 recommendation of KEFs. We like the R11’s which only need to be 9" off the back wall.
My wife also liked the Martin Logan 60 xti’s as she thought they sounded a little more lively that the smoother R11’s. But these need to be at least 24" off the back wall.

djones51 - thanks for the link & your advice.

Hooked my ML 60xti to my PL EVO 400 amplifier today. Listening to some Pink Floyd Division Bell. These things are fantastic. RME ADI2 Dac Fs. Can't be better.

Does Magnolia have any free standing stores anymore?

knighttodd - OK, I'm jealous as hell!!!

luxmancl38 - there is a Magnolia inside the Best Buy in Bellevue WA that carries a decent array of speakers but not much in the way of amps, McIntosh seems to be their forte.
With a handle that includes luxman maybe you could give me the pros and cons of their amps? Definitely would need an A/B to drive the KEF's. I think their biggest class A only puts out 30 watts and is over $9K, outta my range.

Had a long listen to the 60xti at Bestbuy, comparing them to the more expensive B&Ws. In short, they are excellent; certainly better value for money than many other options in my view. If given a choice between the KEF LS50 powered and the 60XTi - I would take the latter without hesitation. I owned the LS50 for a while and missed that fundamental bass foundation, which the 60XTi will deliver with ease. The B&Ws were over 2k more and with careful listening one could here a tad more resolution / extension up top. I felt the 60XTi were more impressive in the lower registers. They are well built and of high quality. They do not sound bright at all if set up correctly - my friends are driven beautifully by a Parasound amp. That Air motion transformer tweeter is very good indeed. Bass is warm and full. The 60XTi will pressurize a good-size room with no problem. It doesn’t hurt that they are nice to look at. No point saying WAF because as we all know by now, even a 1ft x 1ft speaker is unacceptable to most wiiieeevvves arrgh!