Any WARM, MUSICAL speakers out there?

I'm in complete agreement with your acessments on warm sound, but not too warm, although I haven't heard that yet!
Anyway, I think Stehno is SPOT ON with those two choices, another you would want to definately consider would be Alons, wide open, un-boxy sound,(they like tubes). Alons, Vandy 5's, and Von Schweikerts, and (Avalon Ascents) are my all time favorites, you can't go wrong here, I'd mention the Dahlquists I own, but they're no longer made and harder to find.

I second the JM advise and I give you mine.
Give a try to Burmester 995. They use the Dr.Heil magnetodinamic tweeter for absolute transparency and Audax Drivers. EXTREMELY SMOOTH and MUSICAL, as you asked for.
Cheers

Spendors rule.....

The VR-4 HSE speakers and the Vandy 5's are VERY different speakers. VERY DIFFERENT. I would not even put them in the same sentence as they are that different. And they each mate very differently with amplifiers. You can drive the Vandersteen 5's with 20wpc or so tubes. You need a lot more power for the VR-4 speakers. The Vanderstein's require an amp that has a flat bass response (not necesarily STRONG and POWERFUL bass). The VR-4 amps require strong bass (amps with balls).

The difference in sound of these speakers is IMHO pretty substantial (I cannot drill this in enough). The VR-4 speakers really focus the presence of instruments well, but I think they loose a bit of speed in this process. These speakers also have SERIOUS bass. In the wrong room, the bass can be overpowering. Also, I do not think VR-4's image that well per se (they may be good imagers, but not GREAT imagers). They also have a pretty narrow sweet spot, and off axis I think they sound way too bass heavy. Their tweeter dispersion seems very precise and focused on the sweet spot. I have heard these speakers in a reference room with a reference system, and I decided to pass on buying them.

The Vandy 5's are a whole different animal. For one they cost about two times as much as the VR-4s (if you go with the 5A speakers). They have a very open soundstage. Their soundstage seems about as open as box speakers get. Off axis in general I think the 5's sound outstanding. They also image remarkably well. They can throw a soundstage as wide and deep as any box speaker I have heard under $20k or so. These speakers seem to be a lot faster than the VR-4's. Additionally the 5's bass is tuneable. The bass amps that drive the woofers have a 10 band graphic equilizer that can be adjusted to suit your particular room. This is a HUGE benefit. The Vandy 5 speakers are my favorite box speaker that I can remotely afford.

Be sure to demo each before you buy because they are very different speakers.

KF

Hello again. Thus far the Cremona is the only Sanus Faber I have auditioned. My primary source will be my Musical Fidlity Nuvista 3D CD Player, although I intend to add a turntable system later. I have on order one of the two remaining Conrad Johnson Art2 (tube)) preamplifiers,and a CJ Premier 140 amp. ICs will probably be Synergistic Research X-series Sterling, and cables would be determined by the choice of speakers.
You're probably right about the source, Tok. The source I heard was Mark Levinson 360 cd player/processor- very analytical to my ears.
It would appear that some good suggestions were developed.

Timchen, it would seem (based on the "average retail price of your system" post-inquiry) that on Audiogon, it is SPENDERS that rule, not Spendors!
Thanks
Steve