Best floorstanders under $600

I have an Onkyo 805 receiver. 130wts

So back to my original querry, no one likes Monitor Audio BR5's or Wharfedale 9.5 or 9.6? I can get BR5 or 9.6 for about $400 nib, $300 for 9.5 Is one better than the others by much?

Well, I can't speak for the Wharfedale 9.6, but i've had a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 7.3s for ten years. They are good at doing the intimate thing--almost as fast and transparent as an electrostatic, but even though the 7.3 is a mass-loaded floor-standing version, it's pretty thin on the bass, so I couldn't get excited about it. That doesn't say anything regarding what they've done with subsequent generations (the 9.4 is closest to what the 7.3 was). The 9.6 is a 3-way with twin woofers and twin ports, so it probably has significantly more bass than my 7.3's.

I still think you should check into the Canadians--PSB, Paradigm, and Energy. They are all based on research done at Canada's National Research Foundation, and all are reasonably sensitive, have wide, even dispersion, a transparent natural-sounding midrange, and good, extended, clean bass for a given enclosure size.

There is a pair of Sound Dynamics 300Ti on the GON right now for $225.00. I don't know the seller but I know those speakers. I first heard about them in The Absolute Sound mag when the editor (HP) flipped over them. Then I found a used pair for a friend and got to hear them in his system and couldn't believe how good they were for what he paid for them ($350.00)! Do a google search on them and you will find nothing but praise. Good Luck

Big +1 on the Sound Dynamics 300ti! I don't know how many pairs of those I recommended to friends when Audio Advisor was closing out the last production run at $500/pair. Every single buyer (and there had to be about a dozen) I know who bought was absolutely ecstatic about what those speakers brought to the party.

That also says something about how amp-friendly they are. Most of these people plugged them into mass market receivers. For one guy, however, it sparked off a complete system upgrade and overhaul, with new (closeout) Counterpoint electronics, upgraded CD player, new cartridge, etc. I heard the 300ti's at his house and a couple pairs at another house, and they simply sound right with no obvious weaknesses: Smooth even in-room power response, wide, uniform dispersion, frequency extension at both ends with smooth treble and clean tight bass.