What is your vote for best bookshelf speaker ?

>i did have a listend to the $4000.00 totem bookshelf speaker driven by an pair of 60 watts HK tube power amp and preamp for a liitle wgile wiht both entry level phono and digital at a customer apartment.
>came home and wandering that all the year that i thought i know what hi-fi was all about.
>boy I was so wrong.
>high frequency energy is so much more ... came from those samll bookshelf.bass is tunefull with impact.
> I stop worry that i don't have to spend more drivers and bigger cabinet to have vgood sound.

Lordgorian...Congrats on the Talon's. You made the right choice IMHO.

I owned (or have owned) 3 of the speakers above and heard most of them as well. I have to say they all have their strength and weakness (surprise?). I like the Extrema's dynamic and transparency, I also like the Confidence 3's openness and dynamic, and surprisingly AE1 Signature has even better midrange than both. But award goes to Guarneri Homage for overall coherence and design aesthetic. How many manufacture can produce the same model speakers for 10 years without major modification? None. That is because it blends art and science in such a small package that will not offend anyone. There might be better speakers out there, but define better? If you want truth, Confidece 3 will probably give you the most truth among the group. But if you want art, Guarneri Homage really has no equal.