what is the best sounding speakers for under 5000.

I’ll second the Ohms. In the past 40 years, I’ve owned/reviewed the following speakers ranging from about $300-10,000/pr. Wharfedale W60, EPI 150, Braun L710, DCM Time Window, Spendor SP1/2, Mirage M3-si, Monitor Audio Studio 6, APL Serenade, JM Labs Daline 3.1, Micron Karat, Wisdom Audio 50, Clements 206di, Shamrock Eire, Equation 7, 9, Silverline S12, SR15, SR17, Panatella, Sonatina, Sonata, Galante Rhapsody, SAP Quartette, Klipschorn, Klipsch Belle, Heresy, KG4, Shahinian Obelisk, Omega Super 3, Harbeth C7II, Lamhorn, Altec Valencia, JM Reynaud Twin, Trente, Offrande, Magneplanar 1.2, GPA 604-8H, Ohm Micro Walsh, 100, Ohm 3000.

I’d rate the Ohms on top for overall sonics, ease of use and their ability to play music.

I have owned a bunch of speakers ranging from $500 to $3500...b&w. martin logans, magnepan, dynuadio, vandersteen, psb, built my own, etc...
I picked up a pair of REGA RS5 last year and could not be happier. Really nice neutral clean sound.

the vanlspeakersworks ambient recovery system looks just like the Carver and Polk SRS systems which feed the opposite channel back into the speaker in opposite phase to cancel crosstalk between the speakers. Makes for a very spacious sound, about 3db louder than without. This system has been used in various configurations over the years. Get a cheap Carver preamp or receiver with the Sonic Holography feature and you can test to see if this is what you want before spending a bunch on a speaker.

Just today listened to the Pioneer S-2EX loudspeakers at Audio Video Logic in Iowa. For $4995 including stands these speakers IMHO are one of the BEST Value in loudspeakers today.
You owe it to yourself to give them a listen, they are wonderful.

Hey Seadogs, I am in Des Moines. I should stop in too. What electronics were they using?