Help with new speakers

What i really struggle with is in my area their are only two good dealers in town. Its not that i'm in a small town but this area is over run by box stores. My choices are b&w, totem, golden ear, paradigm, mcintosh, dyn, and focal. Thats it.

Ive owned all of these brands except golden ear and totem which i just dont like, and mcintosh because i dont have that kinf of coin.

Whats everyones opinion of mc speakers. Obviously their amps are awesome but ive only heard the $4k book shelf speakers. Any one heard their big boy stuff?

Suggest you look into large dual-concentric (DC) speakers in the Tannoy Prestige Series, e.g., 12 or 15 inch. IME, they are far better than any of the above-mentioned brands. I drive mine with 24 WPC SET monoblocks, but Prestige series are efficient and may be drive by 12 or 500 WPC.

Many discerning audiophiles eventually ascend to the realm of flea-powered single-ended triodes. Therefore, I advise you to invest in loudspeakers that are suitable for use with SET amplification. Such speakers are called 'keepers' and will remain highly-prized fifty years hence.

OHM is direct to customer with liberal audition period and return policy. Return shipping cost if does not work out would be only risk I think. A nice option for those with limited nearby choices geographically in particular.

Or shop carefully and buy used here on A'gon. As long as you do not overpay, you can always sell and move on.

Buying home audio new can be a risky proposition. You never know how things will work out for you in YOUR ROOM. If you do buy new, even from a local dealer, make sure returns and refunds are an option in case needed.

Gary ... same question as B_limo, what do you find deficient with the Tributes?? Like Samac, I heard them at a dealer and was quite surprised and greatly impressed. Although I think recommending speakers is a daunting task because of the shear number of excellent brands on the market, perhaps your response to B_limo's question, and mine too, will help others make recommendations.

Back to my dealer experience. I will not tell you the other brands I compared the Tributes with because I don't want to start another speaker war. But suffice to say the other models cost signficantly more and, IMO, if speakers could eat, the Tributes would have eaten the other brands' lunches. Even the dealer scratched his head after the shoot-out.

The Tributes are gorgeous speakers that sound as good as they look. I understand that Paradigm builds the cabinets in their Canada plant and hand buffs the finish. When I auditioned the Tributes, the dealer used hand mitts to move them around because he didn't want to smudge the finish.

As an aside, the tweeters used in the Tributes are similar to the tweets used in the Signature series -- both models use a beryllium dome. I own the Signature 8s. IMO, the S8s perform way above their price point. I thought the same about the Tributes.

The only question that goes through my head is how does Paradigm pack so much speaker into such a reasonably priced product.

Back to your other question about asking price. Paradigm's MSRP for the Tributes is $6000 for a pair. I would ask 75% of your cost and see what comes back.

FWIW, out of curiousity, I thought about checking out other speaker brands. I really don't know what to do. I have the same problem as most other folks. What brands to check out and where. And how to meaningfully compare brands if Dealer X carries speaker A and Dealer Y carries speaker B. To make meaningful comparisons even harder, the Deakers often drive the speakers with different gear in different rooms. Uuuggh -- forget it!! Too much like work.