Deciding on the right huge speaker

To answer your first question only. Based on my reading the reviews only on the speakers you mention, I would select the Dynaudio Temptations. Not to mention that the Temptation's sonic characteristics are about 90% of the Masters which sell for $80k.

All the others (not sure about the Wisdoms) appear to have 1 or more serious shortcomings when compared to the Temptations.

The Temptation is the best looking of the bunch also.

I agree with Stehno. I have heard the Temptations and they are awesome, they really are about %90 of the performance of the Masters at less then half the price. IMHO they are way more natural then the Krell LAT1 or the Wilson Maxx.

I'm a Dynaudio fan through and through - if I were truly going to purchase speakers in this caliber, I'd have to be convinced to buy something other than the Temptations.

I recently heard the LAT2's ($10K monitors) - they weren't very impressive sounding. I also don't much care for that look, though I can see why some may like it a lot. Again, I'm a Dynaudio fan, but I thought the Contour 1.3SE's that I listened to directly after the LAT2's were much more enjoyable for 1/3 of the price. -Kirk

Before choosing, you should listen to a set of Lowther speakers that have been broken in properly. Some people believe that these are the best sounding speakers. There are several enclosure types that use Lowthers, and have different sonic characteristics. They all are very efficient and can be driven with just a few watts. The primary strong points are extreme detail and great mids and highs, but the bass rolls off a little early. There are designs out there(Carfrae) that add a built in subwoofer to fill out the bottom end. The search would not be complete without hearing a speaker that many say is the best in the world(whether others agree with that or not). They deserve a listen .

Cut Audiokinesis some slack. Given the distribution realities of big speakers the fact is most people don't live near a dealer for most of these products so in home audition is almost impossible. And do you really expect a dealer to truck freight a $30,000 pair of speakers half way across the country to your home on his risk theat they will survive intact, and not be damaged by you in the unpackacking and evaluation and repacking? Just so you can send them back without buying? And for this multi week shipping evaluation return process his store demo room is down?

Dont get me wrong - I am absoultely committed to in home evaluation. But unfortunately, for some products its just not practical.

And just so you know the kind of dealer Audiokinesis is I'll tell you a little story. I recently bought a product that had a few problems out of the box. Duke happened to sell the line and some folks linked me up with him. Even though we had never met or spoken before and I did not buy from him he interceded on my behalf with the manufacturer to help out and even offered to send me a demo product to use until mine came back repaired. He knew I bought elsewhere. He knew I wasn't in the market for anything else. But he made this effort and I've got to tell you, I was impressed.

So before you start slamming him as a dealer think about what you are saying...

joe