Usher is cool. Don't get much on this side of the pond...just drivers.

I really like HiVi/Swan as well. They're building some great speakers and drivers (and ribbons). They've still got a few stinkers, but I suspect 10 years from now they'll be a major player outside of Asia instead of just a minor one.

I'm not a big fan of the sound of a lot of their speakers, but B&W must be doing something right, a lot of poeple do like the sound, and they've been successful for a long time. Design wise they are very good at blending conservative cabinetry with more adventerous styling. I think just about every B&W looks great (HiVi copies a lot of their designs).

Van Schweikert's look great, but I haven't heard enough of their models to to generalize performance.

In the value books above the $1000 point, Focus Audio is still my favorite...with honorable mention to PMC. T-lines just sound so much better in the bass region to my ears than most other speakers...except possibly dual chamber reflex designs.

I always liked Genelec too, though they seem to be getting harder and harder to find.

I think someday in the near future there won't be any "Top 10" speaker manufacturers, the market will instead be composed of literally thousands of small, regional manufacturers. Most of the best speakers I've heard in the last 2 years have been made by small, 1 or 2 man operations. They just don't have the time or will to go global, or even national in some cases.

There'll probably always be the big box store models from brands like Polk and JBL, Infinity etc, to serve as a starting point. Though I doubt many people would put them in their top 10 anything, except maybe value to some people?