Speakers around 20k

Try Legacy's Focus (only $6,000), however, to my ears they are as good as 2, 3, and 4 listed above and you save $14,000 for that reference amp and preamp you will need to drive these beauties!

Abruce - I did not buy anything. In fact, this is the first time I have been to two of the four dealers.

Acuujim - Actually I like VSR. I think I'm one of the first who bought a VR-4. I wanted to upgrade them to gen II, but, they were out-of-biz for a while (I think a flood). Then they run to financial difficulties (it is a while now - I don't remember). So, I sold them. Although there are no guarantees (see Genesis), above a price range, I would prefere a financially stable company. However, I don't know how VSR is doing nowadays.

Timo - Tks. I might give it a listen.

Ikarus,

Thanks for putting your impression of the Snells into words. You've done an excellent job of conveying a sense of what their presentation is like. "Goosebumps" is very descriptive - I think I'd like the Snells, too.

I was recently introduced to the local Snell distributor, and your evaluation makes me inclined to take the line seriously.

To the best of my knowledge there are no Sound Lab dealers near you, so I've contacted a Sound Lab owner (one of my customers) in your neck of the woods who would be happy to have you come over for a listen. I'll e-mail you with his contact information.

Best wishes,

Duke

the newest model Piega may be a excellent choice.

The latest issue of TAS contained a nearly rave review by Tony Cordesman of the $15,000 Legacy Whispers. Cordesman compared them to his $30,000 Dynaudios, and said it was virtually a dead heat between the 2 speakers (despite a 2-to-1 price difference). I haven't heard the Legacy Whispers, but Legacy has recently established a group of dealers, so you might want to check them out. Here is the Web link:
http://www.legacy-audio.com/dealers.html

Bill Dudleston, the owner-designer for Legacy, has developed a commendable reputation for his speakers. In the past, he sold his speakers via Internet, but the dealer network was apparently necessary to find a market for his more expensive models.

If I had $15-20K to spend on speakers, I'd certainly add the Legacy Whispers to my short list. The Whsipers, as is true of the Legacy product line, are very efficient -- around 94-96 db, as I recall. They can hence be used with virtually any kind of amplifier on the market and still produce high sound pressure levels.

(P.S. For those who are interested in speakers, and speaker design, I suggest you take a look at Legacy's Web site. It has some interesting info. You can use the link above to get to the Legacy Web site, and then navigate from there.)