Totally agree. I plan to audition the final candidates either at home or store but I find all these recommendations very valuable to narrow the selection.
Although I have always been a music lover, I only really started going down the audiophile rabbit hole recently, as I spend a lot more time at home now thanks to the new COVID reality.
So I am trying to leverage the experience from others that have gone through the speaker selection process many times before.
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Same PS Audio kit, same size room, listen mostly to classic rock and ambient. I went from a fine pair of stand mounts to Spendor A7 floor standers. They are svelte in stature and worked extremely well in my room. Amazing sound from these small two way speakers. I did wind up adding a pair of REL subs for added bottom end. I loved these speakers, and only parted with them as I had the opportunity to trade them in on Spendor SP100R2s.
These are vintage but if you have enough space on your long wall youâll never want for another pair of speakers. If you have space a line arrays speaker is one to fall fall in love with.
These will play any genre of music are true full range 20 to 20 kHZ, are 8 ohm and easy to drive. They image incredibly and through a soundstage beyond your walls. There are many threads on audiokarma about them an also information on Roger Russellâs web site. There are people on the AK sight that have had tens to a hundred different speakers and settled on these. Those that had them regret selling them unless, they got another pair of betterline arrays. They sound best tight to the wall and the crossovers were voiced for that. They work well at low level or concert level SPL.
I have a pair in my master bedroom. The sound stage gets spooky and you find yourself looking over your shoulder because your enveloped in sound. They image great too but be prepared for life sized band or concert hall. The 8 inch mid is the star driver but the 24 one inch domes add the magic and the two 12â woofers each side are great bass. There are two flavors of crossovers the latest dedign which the sold as a retrofit only lets one woofer go to 150 hz. Both crossovers are magic in my opinion.
It is the McIntosh XRT20. If not enough wall space the XR19 is a worthy substitute. They are not easy to find but Audioclassics has s pair. A good drive from West VA or they ship freight on a pallet. I would recommend at least a 200 wpc amp but 80 or 100 minimum. If you want prolonged concert levels get at least 500WPC i have driven mine with 1k bridged amps no issues with power handling since drivers are fused and there are warning LEDs telling you how much fun you are having.
If you have space issues but have more to spend buy these.
Listen to Danny Ritchies thoughts on the 8000.
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Now I feel more pressure to upgrade soon 
Do you have the 8000F already or were planning to get a pair?
The RP-8000F are what we have right now. I just bought a BHK 250 amp and I am trying to upgrade to a more suitable pair of floorstanders.
Gotcha. You might find out what the âkitâ costs from Danny to take them to a much higher level than they come stock.
I will do some research on these. They look very interesting.
I have been considering the D7.2, they would stretch the budget a bit but they seem to check a lot of boxes. Have you had a chance to listen to them?
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I had home audition of D9 (not D9.2) and A7, and chose the A7. The A Series was much more to my liking, did not care for the new tweeter in the D Series. Much love for both on various forums, but I prefer the A Series. Both were demos and had hours on them. I did add the RELs, but they would help any speakers sing.
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Overall, the Spendor D7 offers excellent measured performance. I must agree not only with Sam Tellig but also with Martin Colloms, who wrote of the D7, in the JulyâSeptember 2013 issue of The HiFi Critic : âhere is a modern interpretation of the classically neutral, accurate and well integrated design.ââ John Atkinson
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Focal: Have a look at these
Focal Aria 926
or the Focal Aria 936
Should be good match for you BHK 250
Stereophile review matches my experience with my Focal Aria 948s
.
Hope this helps you
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The Aria 936 and the K2 936 are in my short(ish) list 
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You wont be dissapointed in the leastâŚ
curious about your sources and amp currently
I am a Roon user.
The current setup in the main room (where the speakers will sit) is:
Roon Core (Fanless NUC)â>ethernetâ>Lumin U1 Mini streamerâ>USBâ>Chord MScalerâ>Dual BNCâ>Chord Hugo TT2 DACâ>XLRâ>BHK Preampâ>XLRâ>NAD C268 amp.
I also have a NAD C538 CD Transport connected by coax to the MScaler.
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Have u listened to any type of planar speaker like a magnepan or Martin Logan? U should really listen to a planar as you will either really like them / or you wonât. But it would give you the opportunity to hear something completely different. â if you have not heard them before.
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I have not. The issue with planar speakers is that they will not fit the physical space.
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As well that planar speaker require space behind them to breathe and
create the soundstageâŚmy Arias give a great sense of the âsee throughâ
qualities of the planars without the the limits on dynamics and bassâŚ
The 936 Aria checks the boxes here .
Here is Stereophiles take on the Aria 936 which is nearly identical to my Aria 948s
Happy listening and journeying
I appreciate everyoneâs help and comments.
The BHK 250 and P15 have finally arrived.
Once the amp and the SR orange fuses I ordered are fully burned-in, I think I will start by auditioning a pair of Focal 936s (or the K2 936s if they are already out by that time) at home.
Will play it by ear from there (pun intended).
By the way, SR orange fuses are currently under a promotion of buy 2, get 1 free (mix and match) until 1/31/21, if anybody is considering them.
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