Best Floorstander Under 10K?

PE LEON Nobilis

Those Harbeth's are a tough act to follow, but for 10K you might be able to find a used pair of Vandersteen 5A's. They sound great with your amp and will fit your room nicely. They also look great and aren't too large, so your wife will be very happy.

There are a couple I would recommend you audition in no particular order...

The Von Schweikert DB99s at just under 10K new (maybe 6K used) impressed me quite a bit at THE Show in Vegas last week powered by sanely priced Consonance electronics. They had very tight, full-sounding bass, and a very natural midrange. They personally are not to my taste visually (not to say they are ugly or anything), but they look good enough, and they were not obtrusive at all.

The next pair of speakers I own... They are the Tyler Acoustics Linbrook System speakers (the 4 piece version). They can be had direct from tyleracoustics.com for about 5K new (about 3.5K used). Subjectively a better value than the DB99s (same level of performance for 50% of the price), but somewhat more risky purchase as Ty sells Internet direct only.

The Linbrook 4 piece System features a very solid midrange, excellent soundstaging, and tight bass... Highs are very natural sounding, but not fatiguing at all to my ears. They also look quite good, IMO.

A dark horse contestant might be the Dali Helicon800s:

While these were not quite as good as the two speakers above to my ears, they were close enough to merit strong consideration for anyone looking in the 10K or less price range... The Helicon800s retail for $5900/ pr. new (about 4K used), and they impressed me quite a bit with their reproduction of brass and wind instruments in particular. Their fit and finish rivals the best I have seen at any price as well. Worth a look.

Good luck,

---Dave

Dodgealum, I'm a big fan of the Merlin VSM speakers in the price range you mention. While I'm not an owner, two members of our local audio group have these speakers and I'm tremendously impressed every time I listen to these speakers in their systems. The Merlins would be at the top of my candidate list in your price range and above, they are clear overachievers. If you do a search here, you'll find lots of comments.
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I will second the db99 from Von Schweikert, I am enjoying them too much for a speaker in this price range! I was not at T.H.E. Show but from others I have talked to(and trust) who have heard the db99's in multiple locations, did not feel the performance at T.H.E. Show did them justice. These speakers don't seem to do anything wrong and are so much fun to listen to, they can do it all from rocking out or playing chamber music. Break-in is horrible and it can be troublesome getting them set up properly, but once you are even close they sound really good. They image much better then my Avalon Eclipse's did, and that speaker is known for its imaging. There is also going to be an add on ribbon super tweeter available sometime in the summer of 05 which will increase freq. response and add even more air and better imaging!

To me the best part of these speaker is the choices of amplifiers! They are so flexible you can achieve full dynamics with as little as 3 watts! So if you want to run a little 2a3 amp or something you can, and with the bass "booster" you don't lose the bass.

My only complaint with the speakers is that the finish isn't spectacular and the iec jack on the plate amps is to close to the heat sinks- you can't use most aftermarket powercords, unless they have a very slim iec plug.