What speakers for 10k?

At new, full retail with warranties, $9700 buys you a pair of Magneplanar
3.7i's and a pair of JL E112 powered subwoofers. The new x.7i line of
Magnepans are bargain-basement speakers for life. Add the powered subs
to get all the extension and slam at the bottom end. They blend well with
Maggies. As long as you can place the Maggies 4-5 feet out into the room,
you're golden.

I got a pair of Mag 1.7s a year ago and at my budget, that's as good as it's
going to get for me. I have a pair of small fast subs with them and a year
later still have no urge to upgrade.

Edited to add: My maggies replaced a pair of more expensive dynamic
speakers engineered to quell enclosure resonances--there were no parallel
surfaces and the sidewalls were a continuous curve with a constantly varying
radius. When I put the Maggies in place, it was a revelation at how noisy the
dynamic speakers were by comparison. With the Maggies, all you hear is the
transducers with no boxy coloration or resonances. Dynamic speakers that
get to this level of clarity generally have very elaborate and expensive
enclosures--speakers such as Wilson, Focal, Magico, YG, and premium
Sonus Faber.

This is particularly an area where Magnepans exceed their dynamic
competitors at the same price points.

For dynamic speakers at your price point, based on what I heard from the
discontinued Sonus Faber Cremona M's, I'd seriously consider the
Sonus Faber Olympica II.

I'm really starting to like what I'm seeing and reading about vapor audio, anyone have any experience with these speakers?

"I got a pair of Mag 1.7s a year ago and at my budget, that's as good as it's going to get for me."

I would say that the Magnepan is a must audition. I tried a pair of 1.7's myself and thought they were just OK. I was kind of surprised because I thought I would like them very much. Still, I think they are definitely worth an audition, given how many people really like them.

The Maggies are somewhat demanding for room placement and proper amplification. When I demo'd them, the rep used a measuring tape to place them properly. The amplification was good, but not exotic or pricey--an NAD C375BEE 150 wpc integrated amp. They beat all comers at $2K. i got a pair home and used a tape measure for setup and got similar results.

If you hear less than that at the demo, it's the setup and not the speakers. Setup is not that complicated, but it does take some diligence. Simliarly, amplification doesn't have to be expensive or exotic, but it has to be a good fit. Those 150 wpc NADs will do just fine. Me? I'm using an all-tube front end driving a 30-yr-old Perreaux PMF-150 (100wpc) power amp to great effect.

"If you hear less than that at the demo, it's the setup and not the speakers. Setup is not that complicated, but it does take some diligence. Simliarly, amplification doesn't have to be expensive or exotic, but it has to be a good fit. Those 150 wpc NADs will do just fine. Me? I'm using an all-tube front end driving a 30-yr-old Perreaux PMF-150 (100wpc) power amp to great effect."

There was no store demo to speak of. I had them in my house for a little over a year. I opted to buy them because I didn't think a store would be able to set them up right, and I have more than enough equipment to try them with. They weren't bad, I just thought they were way over rated. The speakers weaknesses became much more apparent when I put them directly next to other speakers in the same room. I think a lot of people base their opinions on old reviews. I could see them being much more competitive back in the 70's and 80's, but traditional speakers and electronics have been able to overcome many obstacles in recent years to the point where its not mandatory to use such a design to get the same qualities that only a planar speaker could provide.