Considering a POSSIBLE replacement for speakers. Opinions?


Upfront, this isn't for Home Theater, just two floor standing speakers and a separate subwoofer. So there is full disclosure. The speakers I am considering replacing are 2008 Monitor Audio Silver RS8's.

Sadly, unlike the Neolithic Era of high end audio, it can be very hard to find a brick and mortar store to visit, listen and compare individual components. That's the way it was done waaay back in the day
 Now, comparisons seem easiest to get by asking questions like this and finding a consensus. So, if you were looking to replace 12 year old speakers that are highly regarded for their day, what are some brands you'd consider without losing your mind and deciding you need $4,000 speakers? And thanks as always.

j
stereoisomer
I'm in similar boat as OP.  I have MA Silver 6's and have really enjoyed them again since i've optimized much of my system around them.  I have enjoyed listening to other speakers but am wondering how much I'd need to spend to get a quantum leap in performance.  
@stereoisomer  I think making a leap across family to MA gold and the ribbon tweeter might be the biggest bang for the buck leap you can make.  Never mind the finishes on the gold line are simply gorgeous.  I'm not convinced moves within the silver line, or moves to a different manufacturer at a similar price point, would buy you a ton but will monitor this thread for real world experiences.   Good luck! 
@bdp24 , I would not recommend the LFT-8B even though it is superior to most box speakers it is horribly inefficient and has a predictably weak mid bass as it switches from being a line source to a point source. You can not switch gears like that with a loudspeaker. It is also the weakness most Martin Logan speakers have. The volume of line source loudspeakers falls off much slower than point source speakers so as you move away from such loudspeakers you lose the bass. Imaging also fractures. For those of us using line source loudspeakers this problem has significant implications for subwoofer use. This is a problem I wrestled with for years. You have to create a line source subwoofer system capable of reaching up to the frequency that the woofer panel starts switching to point source. In this instance that is just too high for any subwoofer system. With Maggie 3.7i's you are talking about 250 Hz 
which is doable but not the way I do it as I cross at 120 Hz. You would need to make two subwoofer towers as high as your ceiling. I would use 10" subwoofers spaced two feet apart. An 8 foot ceiling would require 4 drivers each side.  Making corner enclosures would be a novel approach. 
I heard a pair of Paradigm $4500 / pair tower speakers at a B&M store on a Prima Luna EVO , and a Hegel 390.   Crystal clear and very detailed on sax, cymbals, lots of soundstage and presents.  Instruments, drum sound exactly like they should. They lack deep bass so using your sub would make up for that.
@mijostyn: Ah yes, but there is a cure for the one weakness in the ET LFT-8b (ignoring in this discussion it's inefficiency, which is actually not as severe as are Maggies. I have both.)---the matter of mating the planar m/t drivers with a monopole bass driver (woofer in a sealed enclosure), good as the LFT-8b woofer is (much better imo than in any other hybrid.): use the GR Research/Rythmik OB/Dipole Sub in place of the ET woofer (which has it's own binding post on the top of the woofer enclosure---to facilitate bi-amping or bi-wiring, and may be left unconnected).

The OB sub is, like any and all planar loudspeakers, a dipole radiator, with a figure-of-8 radiation pattern, a null to either side of the OB frame into which the dual-12" woofers are installed. It shares that pattern with the LFT-8b planar drivers, eliminating the problem of the spl-drop off with distance differential found in "normal" hybrids. Clever, ay? ;-)

The GR Research/Rythmik OB/Dipole Sub can be used up to 300Hz, safely above the 180Hz planar/dynamic-to-woofer x/o frequency of the LFT-8b. A single sub (containing a pair of 12" woofers) may be employed on each channel (left and right, in stereo), or multiples may be stacked up on each side. Choose the number of OB Subs based on the desired maximum-spl (and available funds ;-) .    
Hello bdp24,

     I've never experimented with an OB sub, or even heard one in action.  But I'm still theorizing that 2-3 OB subs, independently and strategically positioned in the room either using measurement gear, room correction hardware/software or just subjectively by ear, would likely yield the best results.

Tim