I highly suggest that you use the recommendations here only as a guide and not as means to make a decision. You will have to find a way to listen to at least a few models to get a sense of the range of tonalities and identify what sonic cues are most appealing to YOUR ears. If I'm not mistaken, I would guess that the vast majority of Audiogon audiophiles would also describe "deep/ rich bass and mids, better clarity and detail in the highs, and also something with a smoother transition from mid to high" as desireable, but the challenge is that you're unlikely to get too many of us to agree as to what speakers satisfy this need.
Having said all this, my personal preferences are Thiel first and Vandersteen second. A preowned pair of Thiel 2.4s are hard to beat for the $$$.
Having said all this, my personal preferences are Thiel first and Vandersteen second. A preowned pair of Thiel 2.4s are hard to beat for the $$$.