Sonus Faber Maxima Amator without the fancy

My ProAc recommendation above was based on your liking the SFs but wanting less bling. Based on the discussion on placement you might consider large Ohm Omni speakers. They are very placement friendly. The presentation is the music is all around us rather than live on stage.

https://ohmspeaker.com/

These will perform better for far less:

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2.5-way-speaker-kits/satori-rinjani-textreme-2.5-way-speaker-kit-pair-with-cabinets/

I will seek these out to try this weekend if I can find them in stores around Denver.  I greatly appreciate the feedback!

My 2 cents: if at all possible, spend some time thinking hard about your speaker placement options, e.g., how far from the rear wall can you get them if switched them to the short wall ? How far from the long wall? Distance apart, distance to listening position, etc., and then take that info with you as you go to dealers to listen.  Share those measurements with the dealers. Good ones will steer you away from speakers that will not perform their best in your space.  As was alluded to above, for example, speakers with rear bass ports generally don't sound great if there are close to the rear wall. But even those with down facing ports, like my Revel F226Bes in my 2d system, needed more space than i was originally giving them.

With the help of brother @soix , i recently discovered how much improvement in sound experience even 9” to a foot can make. 

This thread might also be of interest to you : https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-placement-frequent-placement-changes  

Plus one for Vandersteen and Revel.

I also like the ProAc suggestion, or some of the bigger models from other English brands like Spender and Harbeth (rear ported for short wall, front ported for long wall placement) as a substitute for Sonus Faber bling boxes.

ATC is another British speaker that has a sealed cabinet and can do well close to the wall, but it has a more pro type sound and just the facts mam presentation.  That said, the excellent motor structure of their bass and midrange drivers would deliver Phil Lesh’s bass and the two Dead drummers in a whole different light.

I heard a pair of ProAc Response D48 recently paired with some Moon separates and a Rega Naia turntable and Rega phono pre with top line Shunyata cables and that experience was quite memorable.

Good luck,

kn