Speakers I am familiar with:
B&W 805 - I did not enjoy listening to these speakers. Very fatigueing - the top end was not pleasing. My least favorite speaker of the bunch.
JMR Trente - Very nice speaker. Philjolet's experience and description matches mine.
Totem (not sure which model) - Too polite. Did nothing wrong, but didn't have fun with the music.
Dynaudio Contour 1.3se - These are the pair that I ultimately bought, after listening to the above-mentioned speakers. Seem to get everything just right - top end is lively but not overbearing, and the bass is well-controlled and relatively deep. The midrange, though, is the speaker's best quality - the speaker does a good job with harmonic textures.
B&W 805 - I did not enjoy listening to these speakers. Very fatigueing - the top end was not pleasing. My least favorite speaker of the bunch.
JMR Trente - Very nice speaker. Philjolet's experience and description matches mine.
Totem (not sure which model) - Too polite. Did nothing wrong, but didn't have fun with the music.
Dynaudio Contour 1.3se - These are the pair that I ultimately bought, after listening to the above-mentioned speakers. Seem to get everything just right - top end is lively but not overbearing, and the bass is well-controlled and relatively deep. The midrange, though, is the speaker's best quality - the speaker does a good job with harmonic textures.