New floor stand speakers

I don't feel the Wilson's are a contender to any of the speakers in that class.  They are dynamic, but not refined at all and they all produce an upper mid ringing that drives folks nuts.  I was speaking with someone last night about the XLF's with the Boulder top electronics and DCS stack and we both were polite, but had to start talking and not listening during the first cut. After a few cuts we both had to leave as our ears hurt.  There are too many choices out there for all of us to love and enjoy.  We all feel passionately about what we like, but that doesn't take away from what others can do either.  There are two lines of speakers that I just don't get and I listen to them often.  B&W D3 and Wilson.  I've heard a couple of the smaller B&W sound ok , however I heard that new D3 803 I believe is the first one released. I was their third down in the line I heard two weeks ago.  It was so forward I thought the piano was in my lap, lol.  There was no refinement and the rep was the one who set it up with what they want it to be shown with.  I know folks buy into what we are told in ads or read on line, but that speaker was just bad.  I had a Wilson dealer tell me that the cost of their drivers is very inexpensive, but they put a lot of R&D into their enclosures.  Maybe if they gave you what Vandersteen or Magico or Proac does in their drivers, they'd be a contender.  I always check out how many Vandersteen's from the Treo on up are for sale as well as other high end models.  It's pretty rare and that's mostly because original owners get it and love what they have.  You can find Wilsons all over the net.  I'm sure there are Wilson owners who will now hate me or grill me, but the proof is in the pudding.  All I ever hear from Wilson dealers is that the reason their metal tweeters never sounded good was because they needed to be driven by top of the line gear.  Please stop it.  Everything sounds best that way.  Even with top of the line stuff, I've never heard a Wilson I can live with.  JMHO

I was recently on a quest to get some new floorstanders and probably listened to 17 different models from the following manufactures:  Wilson, Magico, Rockport, B&W, Vandersteen, Harbeth, Focal, Vienna Acoustics and maybe some I forgot.  I think it depends on the type of sound you are looking for.  I had an audio friend with me for most of the auditions and we arrived at similar conclusions on our sessions.  There wasn't a Wilson we liked.  Like the previous comments, the treble drove us out of the room.  Subsequent to our reviews, I have listened to an upper end Wilson ($50K) that I did like, but the tweeter is different than the lower end line.  The Magico S1 was too small sounding, & the S3 had a slightly tilted upper end.  The Rockport Atria was very nice without any notable flaws but it just didn't get me involved with the music and the price went up.  We listened to all of the B&W's.  We both liked the 804 as the sleeper in the line.  The bass in the 803, 802 got a little flabby.  The Vandersteens carbon 5 and quarto were not our cup to tea.  I know a lot of folks like them, but the bass didn't seem right and there was a thickness to the midrange.  The Harbeth is not a floorstander but was very musical but didn't have enough bass.  The lower level Focals (900 series) were ok but didn't seem to have the soundstage we expected and the midrange seemed a little recessed.  We have not heard the new Focals.  We then listened to the Vienna Acoustics floorstanders, nothing to write home about until be heard the Listz.  It was one of those moments when the stars aligned.  It was open, transparent, great bass, midrange, dynamics and the top end was sweet.  This was the speaker that I bought.  It handles all types of music well.  I listen to classical, jazz, acoustic, vocals and rock.  If you want a highly resolving upper end like a Wilson and to a lesser extent Magico, this won't be the speaker for you.         

Goose,

i was was at CES 3 years ago and heard the Vienna Music. This speaker blew me away. It was the most beautiful speaker I have ever heard. I sat glued to my seat for an hour. I didn't want to leave. The speaker at the time was 27k. I don't even know if they make it anymore. It is an experience I will never forget.

I hope the OP makes his choice based on what he hears with his own ears and, if possible, that he gets to try his speaker choices in his own environment.  Lots of good suggestions in this thread, but also lots of people disliking lots of speakers and it would be a disservice for the OP to rule those brands out based on what other people heard.

When I bought my Wilson Benesch speakers, pre-owned, they sounded utterly miserable in the seller's living room.  I don't know if it was the ancillary equipment, or the room, but they were awful.  It was no wonder he wanted to sell them.   I'd heard them before, so I knew what they COULD sound like, so I bought them and sure enough they sound like heaven in my room.  Point being - you take any speaker anyone has mentioned in this thread, and in the wrong room or with the wrong equipment you can make it sound like crap.  But that doesn't mean it won't sound like heaven to the OP, in his home, and with the right equipment. 

ctsooner

You are way off base in your comments about B&W using cheap drivers. Unlike many speaker manufacturers, they do not purchase someone else's OEM drivers, but make all the drivers in the 800 series in house. That diamond tweeter, irrespective of how you think it sounds, is very sophisticated in it's construction and the result of years of research. The replacement cost on those, if you have checked, is over $1000 each. Not exactly what I consider a "cheap" driver.