I own GR Research A/V-2s complete with all upgrades = $900/pr. They will easily best 90% of speakers in their price range, and embarass some that cost more. Awsome crossovers, excellent drivers and a great company to deal with to boot. Similar specs to the LSi9, but much higher sensitivity.
Just in case you didn't read the whole thread, the question about great speakers at the $2500 price point was where the Josephs came in, NOT the bookshelf speakers, which I know are considerably more than LSi9s or my A/V-2s. My A/V-2s compared favorably to the RM7si, but my nod would still go to the Josephs in terms of performance. For the price I paid (less than 1 pair of RM7s for all three of my A/V-2s), I am very happy.
MY 7.1 set-up is up and running...and I am having a BALL , center and surrounds still not broken in though, but the mains started out SWEEET and have moved into FAN-TASTIC! more to come
1) the tweeter is not a tweeter you can get anywhere. It is very similar to the vifa xt 25, but it's made a little different to spec's that polk requested.
2) I have the 9's/lsi 5.1 driven off an onkyo tx-sr600, and it drives it fine in my smaller room. My old sony without discreet amps got killed trying to drive those.
3) I have GR-Research Criterion's in my 2 channel setup, and they are better all around than the 9's. They dont quite go as low, but resolution, detail, imaging, and soundstage are just plain better. Those are driven off a njoe tjoeb cd player and a blue circle amp. But, they're not shielded, so use in HT might be problematic if you're not using a projection tv.
For the money in bigger company speakers, I think the 9's are a very good deal. Not as forward as sonus, not as laid back as vienna's, and a bit more detailed. They're not fatiguing, but they dont make you strain for detail. They're a very comfortable speaker to sit back and enjoy.
But, the GR's are better still. Slightly lower efficiency, on the 2way, but better efficiency on the MTM (91db). They were designed for DIY folks, for creative sound in canada, but css has some that are assembled and finished for a very competitive price now.
www(dot)creativesound(dot)ca
Criterion ($699) is 2 way, diluceo ($999) is MTM, both have the arum cantus ribbon tweeters that are just plain better than the vifa's. Some ribbons sound metalic and pingy or kinda thin, but these dont. I tend to prefer silk dome tweeters, but I like the arum cantus ribbons. When I bought my criterion kit, I paid more than $700 just for the drivers and crossover parts, and was happy with the results. At $699/$999 for assembled/finished speakers....
I'm really tempted on getting the diluceo's cuz then I could run off an affordable tube amp. :| Slippery and $$$ expensive road to go down.
Good observations,,,,,I'm hit or miss with the ribbons...tend to have to judge them individually, the front-end can be sooooooo critical with some ribbons, that it just doesn't seem to be a great option for me now....