Best Speakers to match Ayre V-1xe and K-1xe

I would be shocked if you found that Ayre front end combo insufficient to drive the C4's - that's a stout amp.

You don't highlight your room size or listening habits. I can only comment on the Dyns - I've owned the C2's and C4's, amongst several other models - but have never heard some of the others or only at shows.

If you have a medium sized room (say 15x20 or smaller), the C2's are a wonderful speaker and the Ayre front-end would be a great match.

If you have a large room, the C4's are a much better choice and, again, I think would mate very well with the Ayre gear. When I moved my C2's from a medium room to a very large room, I wasn't nearly as satisfied. The C4's are really in a whole other league when you get into "big" music - rock, large-scale orchestral, etc. - but really need the room to support them.

If you've heard all the speakers on your list, hopefully you've formed an opinion of which you liked best, given the different conditions under which you heard them. I think the Ayre gear will compliment the sound of all of the speakers you mention, not change the character, so if there was a clear favorite from your auditions, I'd think you'd be safe to go with that.

Is there any good speaker that doesn't sound good with Ayre? proabably not. Although I suspect they would be less than optimal with underdamped speakers; aren't all their designs NFB? I know they sound superb with Merlin VSMs, but it seems like you want a larger speaker.

Kthomas- Thanks for your response. My listening room is very large and I listen to Rock and Jazz at fairly high levels. My favorite speaker I've heard is the Avalon Isis. They are really amazing. However at $62k they had better be. The next best in my opinion was Wilson. I really liked the Watt Puppy 8's but they are a bit more than I could (would is a better word) swing. I'm planning to go with the C-4's once I get a few other items straightened out (like my wife's objections). I really appreciate your comments, and they have helped me make my mind up to try the C-4's.

I had great results on Dali MS5 with that Ayre combo.

My current setup is the Ayre models you mention paired with the Dynaudio Sapphires. The Ayre's are completely new in my environment, and it's all set up in a new room / house. Early returns are excellent :-) I really like the C4 at $9000 or so used, which seems to be what they go for, but if money isn't as valuable to you as keeping the wife happy, the Sapphires are considerably more wife-friendly, and they're less than the WP8's.

Another question - is your K1xe equipped with the phono stage and do you play vinyl?