Speaker recommendations, budget $10-15K

Zu Def 4s can be customized in almost any painted or veneered finish, and the metal trim can be "silver" or anodized black. The bass is outstanding and (in my room) flat to 16hz. The footprint is 12x12, but they are 50" tall. Another option is Audio Note ANE. Both can be placed close to the wall.

I heard the Acoustic Zen Cresendo's and was blown away...

I see a few problems with the Cresendos, one if they have too much bass they will most likely overload this room speakers which go to the low 20's need a much larger room to not overload the room with bass.

I heard the Cresendos at CES a few years ago and I was not blown away at all, in fact I thought for a Chinese made product was was too expensive for its build quality which was good but not stealer.

The Marten is a much better speaker in terms of both driver technology and build quality. Ceramic drivers can be very transparent and fast but can sometimes sound a little too bright so setup is crucial. This listener values warmth over transparency and the Marten may be too much of a good thing.

Tannoy's are very dynamic and punchy but I don't find them really coherent or that transparent, and sound staging is good but not amazing.

Aerial I haven't heard nice speakers but I don't really think they are that special.

The Dali Epicon's are new and are getting rave reviews in Europe how they stack up is up to the listener, they have some very interesting new driver technology, which is said to dramatically lower distortion and they go low enough to be punchy but do not go low enough to overload this size of room, in addition they are stunning to look at and come from a long standing well established company.

The Dali's tonally are warm yet have some good detail in the top and have punchy bass and a huge three dimensional sound stage.

Unfortunately the Dali's have yet to be reviewed in the US yet, however, in the Absolute Sound buying guide there was a snippet review which was very positive.

I am a Dali dealer and we just got in a pair of the Epicon 8 which are getting burned in, right now they are sounding very good, but it is still too early to tell if they are good, great, or truly amazing loudspeakers.

I own Acoustic Zen Crescendo’s and am absolutely enthralled with them. About three years ago, like you, I made out a list of speakers to replace the ones I owned for 13 years. Armed with a short list of six speakers and a rather substantial budget off I went to shows and dealers and after two years of auditioning, my list was down to two.

When I attended the RMAF I stopped by the AZ room only because I had read a great deal about them. By the time that two-hour session ended they went on my list. By the end of the show I purchased them without reservation or hesitation.

In my system, to my ears, these are the finest speakers I have ever heard. The fact that they were the least expensive speakers on my list was of no concern but gratifying nonetheless. They are so musical with such a level of detail, clarity and precision that just makes one smile as you listen. Bass is prodigious, taut, fast and deep. I miss not my two subs.....

My suggestion for your consideration is not, of course, to run out and buy a pair of Crescendo's but rather to keep an open mind, as you appear to be doing, work through your list and be open minded about new additions. What will challenge you the most is time. It took me almost three years to get what I am absolutely delighted with and the wait was extremely worthwhile. I certainly learned a lot in the process but when I heard what I heard, I just knew that the Crescendo was the speaker for me.