Best Floorstander Under 10K?

Lrsky is now registered as a commercial user.
Again, my excitement in mentioning LSA was both premature, AND uncalled for, since I was not yet commercial.
Sorry for any misrepresentation on my part.

As to the best speaker under 10K one issue haunting the audio industry today, is the lack of products under 10K which are really worthy--hence the consumer flight to the used marketplace. They are seeking quality, but unable (perhaps unwilling) to pay the prices of some products.
One thing I taught sales people in my seminars which is on point here, is the formula for purchasing, which, in a fit of maybe Cabernet I came up with. Which is: M+M@VP=S, which when translated means, "money plus motivation at the moment of value perception equals a sale. It seems that more and more, the flight to used gear shows that more people feel that value is gained in the used market.
After working the sales floor of my own store for 11 years, then traveling the country, I saw many people swallow hard at the pricing of some of the loudspeakers.
At least places like Audiogon allow for the resale, at a bargain price of loudspeakers, so the first owner can upgrade, and the second owner can buy 'better' perceived product.
IMHO

It would be interesting, perhaps astounding, to know a mfrs'. costs of drivers, x'overs and cabinets for some respected high end speakers in the, say, $20-40K/pair range. I realize there's more than component costs involved.

Which mfrs. have the highest markup from factory to distributor?

Probably Bose, as a percentage to gross retail versus gross cost of goods.
They were using, what had to be one of the least expensive drivers around in the 901's--and the were made in Kentucky.
The drivers, I was told, cost them about $3.00 each. Don't get me wrong, profit is not a dirty word, but it is a sad commentary that if you asked 100 typical people to name a speaker company that is high quality, Bose always comes up.
Just today, my attorney asked me if my speaker is "I better than Bose?" I laughed.

That profit is applied to the advertising budget making that product's perceived value to be much greater than the total sum of all its parts..After all the end user bought the product based on perception often conceived by someone else.The end user's purhcase is fuel for the next product cycle.And so life goes on..Tom

Good thought Tom, the mystique however misplaced, is perpetuated by the marketing.
"Is it better than Bose.?" I could have vomited, but he was completely serious.
How can anyone look at their particle board cabinets and pseudo zoomy looks and not see through that "Captain Midnight" technology.
This, is the premise, and I am not exaggerating, of the Bose 901.
Since 89% of all sound we hear (presumably musical) is reflected, their design pointed 9 of the 10 drivers in the 901, away from the listener. Now, I don't think that one has to be an MIT Grad to figure out that we have just INCREASED the amount of reflected sound, by making what should be direct sound, reflected, by doing this.
This is meathead physics, and Amar Bose has made this into a Billion dollar company. Oh well, as Adolph Hitler said, (paraphrasing as my memory, as well as other body issues has become shorter these days) "The bigger the lie, the easier it is to pass off."
If only someone with Bose's resources would actually pursue audio perfection. It actually staggers my mind that I can, in my very first attempt, build a speaker better than almost everyone out there. Not a commercial, just disgusted.