Suggested speakers to take the place of Dunlavy

I moved from Dunlavy 4s to the Avantgarde Duos. The Duos are a much more exciting speaker overall, and exceedes the Dunlavy 4s in every aspect. They are a little fussy, but when set up right they bring the music to your room.

Another speaker I would consider would be the Silverline Bolero. I compared the Sonata 1 to my Dunlavys when I had them and I liked most aspects of the Sonata better, excepet that I felt that my electronics better suited the Dunlavys and they were all around less fussy than the Sonatas. I heard the Boleros at a show and they sounded great, good looks small footprint and big bass, your wife would love you if you chose the Boleros over the Dunlavy 5s which are huge and not all that good looking.

Another speaker that I think is better and I also own is the Innersound Eros Mk 3. The Eros also like the Dunlavys have a small sweet spot, but they are much easier to place and less finicky than the Dunlavys in regards to electronics. They pretty much beat the Dunlavys in every regard in my opinion and once again they win in the looks category

If you're looking for something that sounds similar to the Dunlavy's, try and audition Snell or Coincident speakers.
All of the speakers recommended by others are excellent, but I think these two sound more like the Dunlavy's.

Rowland, This is why speaker decisions are so based on individual preferences. I don't find Vandersteen's recessed in the highs just as you don't hear the slight box sound of Dunlavy's . They are all good speakers deserving of their reputations.
I think the Theil's are slightly tilted up in the highs which would cause a slightly recessed midrange in comparison which you have noticed.
The point is, all are a trade off of some sort.
As you stated and as I mentioned earlier, they are 1st order designs. I like these because they don't throw the sound at you, they let you listen. I judge speakers by their capability to disappear in the room. 1st order speakers, to me, do this extremely well.
When I listen to the Vandersteen's in my room, I don't hear speakers---I hear the performers, soundstage, etc. They disappear completely leaving an open window to veiw the performance(as long as that recording allows it)
Best to you in your search and may the audio Gods smile on you!

This thread at another forum may be of interest to you, VMPS RM-40 owners: Before you bought your RM-40..What other speakers did you compare them to? http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=5521

Dave

A lot of good suggestions above. You might also consider trying Duntechs, which are similar in design to the Dunlavy's (same designer, similar design principles)--just not easy getting them in certain parts of the world. The Sovereign 2001 is roughly the same frequency response and size as the SC V, although it is a little warmer-sounding than the SC V and it needs an amplifier that can control its bass drivers to match the bass speed of the Dunlavy design. A great speaker for listening to music, although not everyone's cup of tea. Also, you might try one of the larger Dynaudio speakers, particularly the Evidence Temptations, which are superb speakers--they can give you that "big" sound that Dunlavy and Duntech speakers can.