Hi Ray,
I ran Apogee Slant 8’s for many years. They are incredibly good speakers for the money. Audio Research is also a great compliment to them as it is really easy to have them sound really lean… with just too much resolving power.
Budget silver can sound really harsh. With those speakers I don;t recommend it
I would definitely look at Cardas. I used Golden Reference… although with the ARC that might not be required. If I was you I would try Cardas Clear Reflections, they should do exactly what you are requesting.
While the rule of thumb was speaker cost be around 30% of your total system. I found that Apogee’s could support electronics way beyond this! I think at one time each of my components were of greater cost than my speakers. I have experience with Baby Grand and Grand as well.
I highly recommend if you can afford it some day to get an Audio Research tube amp to power these. This will add a whole new dimension to what they can do.
