Thiel 3.7 vs Wilson Sasha

James63,

I agree with you.

Love to see that list!

I would also love to see that list.

I mentioned the price point because you can only enjoy a speaker in your home with the electronics that you can afford. If you're shopping for speakers and electronics, you have to get what sounds the best to you at a cost that you an afford.

I would also like to see that list... let's hear it.

Well here is a shot list of great $5000ish speakers. I have included some "expert" reviews... if you don't want to trust my opinion. So here we go flame suit on.

Thiel C2.4 (price just raised from $4900 to $5900 last month)

"The Thiel CS2.4 is a great loudspeaker, one of the very best I've heard regardless of price. Its treble soars and its bass plummets, but all the while the CS2.4 sounds utterly neutral and musically communicative. This speaker looks gorgeous and has the earmarks of heirloom-quality craftsmanship. The CS2.4 will be at home in a tweaked-out dedicated listening room or in a finely decorated living room, and its moderate size means it won't take up much space in either."
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/thiel_cs24.htm

PSB Synchrony One

"With a proper amp, though, you'll find that these speakers are capable of remarkable performance from top to bottom with bass performance that is notable for the speakers' size and price, loudness capabilities that belong to speakers twice the size, and a midrange presentation that sets a new standard for tonal accuracy, clarity and detail."

"To my ears, the Synchrony One is the best PSB speaker yet, and it establishes a benchmark for value and performance -- something that seems synonymous with Paul Barton’s name."
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/psb_synchrony_one.htm

Magnepan 1.7

"Here we have a $1995 speaker whose staging, focus, and low-level resolution are not just much better than that of its excellent predecessor but downright superb by any standard short of a CLX or an M5, with detailing in bass choirs that was so good it reminded me of the Maggie 1-Us (which had the most lifelike detail in the mid-to-upper bass I've ever heard). " Jonathan Valin
http://www.avguide.com/blog/magnepan-mg-17-unqualified-triumph

Magnepan 3.6

No review needed hundreds of owners here alone...

For the last speakers I was actually thinking of Dynaudio's S5.4 but they are a good bit more than I thought... But the list of brands that make good budget speakers goes on and I am sure someone could add to my list with Gallo, Usher, Revel, Dynaudio, and countless other speakers I will never hear...

Some speakers in the $10,000-$15000 that I demoed at length that did not make the cut.

Focal 1037s $1100ish (bad integration, tweeter oddities, bass VERY room depentant, but had a very clear midrange)

B&W 802D (moments of glory, but odd bass anomalies, very poor dynamic contrasts, colored as a whole, I did like them at one time though).

Klipsch P-38F $12000 (wheres the music?, each driver was great but sounded separated in space, too much bass in room I heard them, not for me but I heard them in the same room as the Magnepan 20.1 so it was not a fair fight)

Wilson Audio Duettes $14000ish (Poor detail retrieval for $14000 and only ok in general, uneven bass in a very good room, some resonance in the kick drum+ range possibly caused by port noise). I realize there is some adjustability to these but I did not take the time, YMMV.

I am sure many of you have speakers/brands you love to hate and great brands that don't get press... and there are lots of speakers that fall into no man's land of good but not great.