I've hesitated to weigh in on this discussion because all the speakers discussed are far above my budget. But what the heck, I've always been one to insert my 2 cents worth, welcome or not.

To me it's non-intuitive to compare horn speakers with standard dynamics, thus JBL Array 1400's on the list with B&W802's, Wilson Watt Puppy's and the rest seems strange. Personally I'd be inclined to forget about the horns. OTOH I'd include Magneplanar MG 3.7's and/or 20.7s, though I know Mrs. Topspeed objects.

Yeah, if I had the room and the bucks the MG 20.7's would probably top my list. In a larger room like topspeed's I'd almost think Mrs. Topspeed could be persuaded to allow the 5 feet from the wall behind which is as much as the Magneplanars really need. (My smaller MG 1.6's do fine with only 3 feet.) To put things in perspective, any of the speakers topspeed is considering would ideally get about the same distance from the wall behind.

The Maggies and especially the big 20.7 would require lots of juice, for instance a Pass Labs X350.8. Or likely one could get by very weil with a pair of Merrill Veritas monoblocks for a good deal less cash; (On the cheap, biamping with a pair of Merrill Taranis would work pretty well.)