Need help generating a short list

Greetings,

Well, I'm parting with my original VR-4's, which have served me well for many years. In some ways, I wonder if I'm making a mistake selling them, as they're still a wonderful loudspeaker even by today's standards.

At this point, I'd like to consider a more "lively" loudspeaker. The VR-4's are very "warm" sounding, and easy to listen to. The downside to this presentation is a lack of dynamics and impact. Bass extension is not an issue with the VR-4's, but the slam of a kick drum, the pluck of a bass, or the crack of a rim shot just isn't there. Having played the drums for many years, I yearn for a system that can recreate the dynamic impact of a drum kit!

I've tried many speaker technologies over the years; Horn (Altec 19's), Planar (Maggie's), Electrostatic (Martin Logans), and Conventional (Legacy Convergence, Thiel 2 2, Thiel 3.6, VR-4, others), and for some reason, have always come back to conventional designs. Of all the speakers I've owned, the Altec 19's were the most visceral, but they lacked detail and imaged poorly. The live event was there, but it was all mixed together. The most dynamic conventional speaker I've owned was the Legacy Convergence (similar to the Focus), but the presentation was too "hi-fi," and very fatiguing.

I realize it would be impossible to find a loudspeaker with the dynamics of a horn, midrange of a planar or electrostatic, and top to bottom detail of a superior conventional design, but I would imagine some speakers come close. I'm not talking $50K+ speakers, but speakers in the $5K range.

I've seen many a reference to the Aerial 10T and Talon Khorus as being very dynamic, yet detailed and extended, but what other speakers might be considered, particularly current models? I have a very large room, and need a speaker than can play loudly without compression. I realize horns are ideal, but I cannot afford the entry price for even a mediocre horn system.

With hundreds of manufacturers out there, I'm trying to develop a short list so I can limit my search/research. We don't have many "high-end" shops in my neck of the woods (Tampa Bay area), so it's likely I'll have to seek some of the products out during my business travel. Any help would be most appreciated.

By the way, I am intrigued by the "Waveguide" technology, that seems to offer the benefits of a conventional design, with some of the properties of a horn. I've been away from this hobby for 12+ years, so I'm very wet behind the ears. To my chagrin, there are still no shortage of companies trying to stack drivers in a tower configuration (ala Legacy), but it's certainly possible that this configuration has improved over the years.

Any help would be most appreciated!