Best small 2-way floorstander?


I'm looking to upgrade (sooner or later, I guess) my excellent minimonitors (Merlin TSM-SE) for some small floorstanders. Please share any thoughts on your vote of the "best of the best" in this category and if you think they work best with tubes or solid state. So far I've got the Merlin VSM-SE's or Kharma Ceramique 3.0s on the short list. I do give the edge to Kharma in the looks department, though. They look absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for your input!
hifinut604
A comment about "Hi-Fi" versus music. I just want to say one thing, Yes the Merlin's do ultimately sound like Hi-Fi that is to say you almost always know you are listening to an audio system instead of the real thing. I have only heard a few systems that ALMOST made me believe for a magical moment or two that I really was listening to live music. The Merlin's are included in that short list IN MY ROOM! All the talk about Hi-Fi versus music is a bunch of BUNK. Ultimately all we are really talking about is Hi-Fi systems and trying to approximate the real thing, at least that is my goal. If you don't believe it maybe you need to hear more live music and experience the obvious differences. Real music and Hi-Fi ARE TWO DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES. I really get on the High Horse when I see that phrase, which has become almost a buzz Mantra Hi-FI versus music, Hi-FI versus music, Hi-FI versus music. Maybe if you say it enough you will believe it. I say go hear some real music. My final 2 cents on this thread!
Sdcampbell, i have 3 mini monitors to recommend to you. The Reference 3A mini monitor. This speaker uses a 8 inch carbon fiber woofer and a silk tweeter. There is no crossover in the speaker. This speaker sounds so articulate. Here's a great pic of the Reference 3A http://shows.soundstagelive.com/shows/ces2000/product_13.shtmlspeakers.
Sdcampbell, The other 2 mini monitors i love, are the Tyler Acoustics Taylo Reference. This speaker uses a Seas magnesium 6 1/2 midbase and a Scanspeak tweeter. This speaker looks and sounds great. Here's the review Soundstage did on them. http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/tyleracoustics_taylo.htm Here's another pic of them. This store is seling them on Audiogon. Check out how they look in this pic. They show the speaker in 2 different finishes. http://audiogo5.iserver.net/cgi-bin/auc.pl?spkrmoni&967863736&auc&3&4&
Sdcampbell, the third mini monitor i love, is the Aliante Pininfaria. This speaker look and sounds awesome. I saw a couple of people on Audiogon selling them. Here's a great pic of the Aliante Pininfaria http://www.aliante.com/aliproin.htm Thanks. JVC1040@yahoo.com
Hi, i meant to put Hifinut604, for the comments about the best mini monitors i heard. I put Sdcampbell by mistake.