I'm the OP and still looking and learning. I was going to make a 9+ hour round trip to audition a pair of speakers I saw advertised on line. The are beautiful to look out, made of real hardwoods, and fit my decor more than perfectly, but of course, its about the sound. The manufacturer is no longer in business but had a very fine reputation during his run. The reviews raved about the speakers (it seems like they all do) an noted that they were "laid back" rather than "out front" and that they didn't hit you in the face with tone but rather "lured you in". I guess that meant that the speakers were not on the more detailed end of the spectrum. I was still intrigued and seriously contemplating rearranging my schedule to go here those beauties.
Fortunately, I was in the closest big city (Atlanta) for a medical appointment and made time to visit some shops to hear some speakers. It's slim pickin's in that town. When I lived there, many years ago, there were several small, hi-fi shops that handled some high end lines of products. Now, I could only easily find the big box (Best Buys "Magnolia") and one shop that has been there forever. The guys at Magnolia knew a lot less about their equipment than I did; and, they only had the various price point models of B&W's to listen to. They had several other brands on the floor of the "sound room" including Martin Logan, Sonus Faber and Distintive Technology (or something like that). When I asked to A - B some of the others with the B&W's, they told me no can do. None of the others were hooked up!!!! I guess they have a real good margin in the B&W's and don't want to sell anything else.
The other shop had a nice set-up and I auditioned several sets/brands without any sales pressure. They happened to have a set of trade-in speakers from the same manufacturer that made the ones I was focusing on and which were 9+ hours away. The pair at the shop were a 2-way version and I was interested in the bigger brother 3-way systems but figured I could at least hear that manufacturer's "sound". Just as I had read, the speakers were "laid back" and didn't have the brighter detail and sparkle that I prefer. The sales associate said that was the result of the silk dome tweeter. The big brother had a silk dome tweeter (probably the same one) and I realized that this was not the sound I was looking for. This event saved me from a 9+ hour journey to disappointment.
I'm still studying and looking. Many systems for sale that interest me are large floor standing, full range speakers which often are quite heavy and the sellers require "local pick-up" only, or the shipping costs are prohibitive, especially for an opportunity to audition and return if not satisfied. So. in the meantime, I'm sending my old KEF 105/3's to a repair facility to have the surrounds and donuts replaced and crossovers checked. I may just be happy with these once they are back to their original sound which was quite nice really. Thank you for all your advice and sharing your experiences.
