VANDERSTEENS vs. THIELS

Vandy and Thiel are severely different. Thiels are extremely linear and accurate and require lots of very clean power and a very clean source to sound good, or even listenable. Given your current electronics, I would not commit to Thiels without first hearing the combination. There is a substantial possibility that you won't like the combination. Vandersteens are much more forgiving and naturally forgiving, at the expense of being less optimal with the best gear and source material. If you have to buy without trying it out on your home gear, AND if you have no near term plans to upgrade gear, I'd go with the Vandersteens. Maggies have a great reputation and I used to own SMGa's and have a fondness for them but have not heard recent models. They are planars which means that room positioning is critical, and they will tend to beam the high end more than dynamic speakers. I would again hesistate to commit to owning these without trying them out at home. Great potential and very worthwhile testing. Final thought: there is a trap that all of us fall into when testing gear - we evaluate and compare gear very analytically (which has better imaging, etc) but really the pleasure of music is less tangible. Sometimes a piece of gear just moves you emotionally even though objectively it might not be the best. When you test, listen for what you enjoy. Listen with your heart and not your head, as one rare female audiophile once told me. Art