Quote Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
In my area I have been fortunate enough to hear the top of the line Dynaudio, Martin Logan's and B&W's.

Off the top of my head here's my 3:
1) Avante Garde, I have yet to hear a good sounding efficient speaker and these costing $25k and up surely have my curiosity.
2) Something toward the top of the Wilson line to see if they live up to the buzz.
3) Top of the line Audio Note. Can anything really sound like $225k?

Don't scurge me, tie for runners up. Merlin, again curiosity. Klipschorns or La Scalla's to see if Klipsch actually did make a speaker that I could tolerate.
Mr. Peabody. Well you know there are at least THREE people in my area who have flown all the way to England for holidays with the main priority of listening to Audio Note gear at Peter's house. Flights are a cheap investment. Peter owns a set of Avante Guardes which he purchased for research purposes -- he has owned or still does own Apogee Scintilla's, Acoustats, Beveridge systems, various Lowthers, Quads and pretty much every and any high end speaker that has been built over the last 40 years. The man is a collector as well as an audiophile. You may be able to hear all three on your wish list though perhaps not the Wilsons, to audition in an A/B comparison.

Wilson though should not be too difficult for you to locate. Sound Plus here carries Wilson's Sophia which I heard. If you've heard the Gershman Acoustics X-1/Sub one you can pretty much expect the same thing -- though I think the Gershman's at about 1/4 the money (and nicer looks to boot) sounds better from a music standpoint.

The $125k E version is made to order (you pay up front and then wait about a year for it) so I should gather that you would have to go to his house to hear it. And to put it bluntly -- for that kind of money I would want the owner himself to play it for me. There is over $40,000.00 worth of silver in the loudspeakers so you are not going to run into them very much.

That speaker set-up would be on my list of want to auditionsas well as would be Peter's Snell A/III and perhaps a big lowther.