Speakers - Your "Safest" Choice

and feel confident they would be happy 

none?

Here are some recommendations of speakers I've heard at audio shows or have consistently great reviews. Some are sigificantly under $20K.

Dynaudio Contour 60: These did everything right. Goreous sound.

Goldenear Triton Reference: To my ears these sound about as good as any 6 figure speaker you can find.

Revel Ultima Salon: I haven't heard these but they are widely considered to be one of the best sounding speakers ever made. They turn up on the used market fairly often.

Joseph Audio Perspective 2: These sounded good from the moment I entered the room and got better when I sat in the sweet spot.

Paradign Persona 5F: They did everything well.

Rosso Fiorentino Fiesole II: These sounded amazing. I would love to hear the next model up - the Volterra.

One of my main conclusions from attending a few audio shows is that the price of speakers and their performance are not well correlated. I think somewhere around $20K is the sweet spot and it seems to take multiples of that figure to see a big improvement in sound. The MBL 101E Mk II sounds incredible but it is $90k. I think the best speaker I've heard is the Von Schweikert Ultra 11 which costs over $300k. There are a whole bunch of wonderful sounding speakers in the $20k range.

for all around capability i confidently recommend floor standers from proac or vandersteen as being safe bets to please pretty much universally, within any reasonable price range, up to nose bleed price levels (this doesn't mean other brands will not...)

i am leaving out panel speakers, which to my ear can be even better, but they require more of the user and the room setup to do their magic

I meant this question to be taken hypothetically, but for those that have asked: my current system consists of Audio By Van Alstine DVA M225 mono blocks and a Primare Pre35 preamp. Main sources are a  Yggdrasill DAC (Less Is More) with Audiolab CDT9000 transport and a Music Hall MMF 7.3 turntable/Ortofon Bronze cartridge.

P.S. Room is approx. 13' X 20'. 10' ceiling.