Vote for the best speakers in 10K range

Now I'll offer up a speaker that I haven't heard. The Soundlab Millenium M-1 or Soundlab A-1. These speakers are electrostatics, not dynamic. People whose ears that I now and trust say these are even better than the Vandersteens. These are huge speakers, which unlike all other electrostatics deliver terrific deep bass, can play quite loudly (although not quite like dynamic speakers), and can disperse high frequency sound throughout a wide horizontal angle. The Millenniums won the Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award in 1999. If I had a dedicated room, with sufficient space, and the desire to spend this type of money on speakers, I would definitely check these out. Their dealer network is small and they are difficult to find in order to get an audition. Again, they require a high power, high current amplifier, but people who are in the know say that these are absolutely magical. Check them out at www.soundlab-speakers.com. Oh yeah. These two speakers are over 10K. I did see several great deals on used A-1's on this site and others around 5k. With no disrespect to others, if you get a good audition of Vandersteen and Soundlab's, and natural, full range sound reproduction is your goal. I think you will forget about names like B&W, Dunlavy and Martin Logan and Wilson Audio. IMO, these do not come close.

Rayhall, How can you give such a statement without ever hearing the Soundlabs.

Rosstaman - thanks for the reply on the Confidence 5's vs. the 3.3's. I've never heard the 5's, but I find it almost weird that I've seen so many practically new ones advertised for 40-45% of retail, and you practically never see 3.3's used for sale.

KThomas- I am currently running a pair of Confidence 5s and couldn't be happier. In my room (25'x19'), I don't find the bass to be lacking at all. The 5s are much more "analytical" than the 3.3s. This means that the 5s will more readily show deficiencies in the rest of the system. I also find that the 5s do voices better than any speaker to which I've listened. Matched up with great electronics, they are, IMHO, the best at $10k. As for discounted pricing, it's to the buyer's advantage.

Metaphysics - thanks for sharing your experience. I find it hard to believe that the 5's are some sort of lemon, especially coming from Dynaudio, but I guess it wouldn't be un-precedented. In any case, they'd be my first inclination for upgrading my 3.0's based solely on price and manufacturer. And, I agree wholeheartedly that the discounted pricing is to the buyer's advantage - I always like a great deal!