the big one: how do you choose speakers? By what features, data?

@mbmi 

There is a fair amount of truth to your approach. It's all about what makes up the speaker's price. E.g. if it's a luxury brand and the speakers are all delivered and setup by a technician with a degree from MIT,  there will be a cost to that, a markup in each of the company's product.

Ideally, the company will want to make money on their premium line and leave no margin on their cheapest model while it benefits from the trickle down magic. Ideally but often it's not the case. You are paying for the membership in the club.

E.g. I tried Sonus Faber's entry model and it sounded bad. Surprisingly bad.

In short, every manufacturer uses a (unique) pricing and design model, and some do what you are describing. 

Lastly, the 10K budget is nice. Mine is 2K. Not complaining a lot of awesome choices there...

1.  Do the speakers sound fantastic with your amp and sources, in your room?

2.  Do they look good in your room, so as to not cause stress and strife with your significant other?

the first time the looks are mentioned @willkimbrough !

My #1 priority, maybe superficially

My wife likes the Totem Rainmakers but misses the Dynaco A25s…because she has good eyes and ears!  
The Dynacos are now upstairs with the Scott 222c!

my version is much shorter: my wife hates them all!

If we had an upstairs, that's where she would stash me along with all the gear.