help narrowing down my list of speakers, $2500

Hello Jamiec001,

I have the same taste in music as you and I love my Jean Marie Reynaud Trentes. They will do everything you've discribed above and more. They are so good, they will also help you appreciate many other types of music, as they've done for me. Since I've had these speakers in my system, my cd collection has more then doubled. The new, to me, artists include Roxy Music, Bill Frisell, Ryan Adams, Michael Buble, Thomas Dolby, Junior Wells, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jennifer Warnes, Howlin' Wolf, Kenny Burrell and the list continues to grow. I've always been a big rock fan, Led Zep, The Who, Jimi, The Doors. I also love what is now considered alternative, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, SoundGarden, Janes Addiction, et all. You mentioned you will be adding a sub, these speakers also work very well with the pair of Rel Strata IIIs I've matched them with. These speakers have really helped me appreciate my system and the music much more then I used to........John

Hey Jamiec001,

I've been told by the distributor of Jean Marie Reynaud that the Offrand, while being a very solid speaker, does not possess the magic of the Trentes. I would also urge you to heed the warnings about floorstanding/full range speakers in a small room. It's a very tricky thing to set them up and get the sound right........John

Hey Jamiec001,

No, don't scratch the JMRs, just the Offrands. The Trentes are the speakers to audition from there line, for your needs. I would also scratch the Silverline Sonata II, more for Jazz and small scale classical. The VR-4 Jrs, I think, are a bit to big for your space. The same for the PMC OB-1s, although I've never heard them, I've done a lot of research on them and they are supposed to be capable of very high output, but need space to breathe. I hope this helps......John

Hey Jamiec001,

I don't know who told you that the JMRs don't rock, because they are dead wrong. I've had these speakers for almost two years now and they rock with the best of them. As a matter of fact the speakers I owned before these were Dynaudio 1.3 MkII, and as soon as my wife and I heard the Trentes, I put the Dyn's up for sale. I found the Dyn's a bit too laid back for my taste. Believe me, with the music I listen to, including Metallica, Iron Maiden, Disturbed, Linkin Park, AC/DC and Kid Rock, these speakers rock........John