Newbie wrote:

Having been away from audio for a long time, I am now looking to
upgrade from KEF 104ab, an speaker, probably similar to Spendor and
Rogers models. I would prefer a floorstander, but not much larger
footprint than my present speakers (ie, no Quads or Maggies). This is
for 2-channel stereo, not home theater.

Please suggest suitable brands and models. Friends have suggeted
Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio. However, I am confused by various "series"
within a brands (don't recall that happening when I shopped last time
but could just be my faulty memory!), eg, should I be looking at
Contour or something else in dynaudio?

All comments and advice appreciated.

I would advise a Sonus Faber. They get their drivers from dynaudio,
scanspeak, etc. Their work is *very* high quality and *very* good
looking. Although loyal to the source (ie, "hifi") their philosophy of
the human ear being the "strictest judge" and that they see home audio
reproduction as an end in itself, and as a form of artistic expression
by itself makes them stand out from all the rest, IMHO. You will get
very sweet and musical sounds when matched with the appropriate gear.

Two more advises:

1) Ignore the "all cd players, amps, speakers, wires, etc, sound the
same" type of borgs lurking around here. Just believe in your own ears.

2) Steer away from sonus faber if you are mostly into heavy metal, hard
rock, etc angry type of music.