Thanks, all. My auditioning journey continued today. I spent some time at HiFi Direct in Hackensack, NJ. It was my first time there and first time meeting Mike. He suggested I try Cabasse Murano bookshelf speakers. Wow! Gorgeous speaker and sounded better than it looks. Very natural, effortless and musical. Everything sounded good. I then listened to Dynaudio Special Forty, which were also very good, but very different. The SP40s were a little more subdued but still did everything well. They were a good combo of detail, soundstage and a nice full sound. Really impressed by the Cabasse, though, because everything just sounded better. With both speakers I was hearing great music, but the Cabasse felt more real. Amp was a Line Magnetic LM-805ia. First time hearing a Line Magnetic and that was also very impressive.
The best pairing I heard while there, though, was the Dynamikks Athos 10 with an Octave Audio V40SE. $44K of goodness. If you can spend that kind of money on speakers, you should give them a listen. I can’t at the moment but maybe someday.
The best thing about this search is going into these stores and meeting great people who know what they’re doing and discovering new gear and new music.
Really appreciate everyone’s feedback.