Having trouble deciding, almost time to pull the trigger: Monitor 11 or 683

So given a lot of my recent purchases (new tv, entertainment stand, reciever etc etc) I was going to wait awhile before buying new speakers. My wife gave me the go ahead to use some of the money from tax returns to speed up the process as she also wants some nice floor standing speakers.

For the time being I am just looking for the front 3.

I am pretty much set on a few brands as I've decided I will not buy speakers that I cannot audition and unfortunately the speakers I can audition are somewhat slim. From what I've heard I'm set on 2 speakers lines, though I was still maybe considering KEF Q700, after listening to it side by side the B&W 683 I just think it doesn't sound all that great.

I am stuck between the Paradigm Monitor 11's with the Center 3 and the B&W 683 and the HTM61 Center speaker.

I unfortunately have no way to hear the speakers side by side as the dealers are 30 minutes apart. I feel that the paradigms and the B&W's have a very similar sound, though I do feel the bass on the 683's is a bit better (not so much of a factor as the crossover and the subwoofer I have) and I feel that the 683 handles really high highs much better than the Paradigm MOnitors

Theres a song called 3'Oclock by Eric Clapton and BB King, among a few others, but this one I listened to a lot on both speakers, its a very demanding song IMO with BB Kings voice and the guitar plucks and the incredible highs from the high notes on teh guitar.

I felt that on the B&W's it did not break a sweat, not once did I ever feel like my ears were being pierced on a couple of particular high notes, where as the Paradigms a couple of times seemed a tad bit harsh. Granted these are also on two very dissimilar setups, though the paradigms were being pushed by a high end Integra Reciever and the B&W's were being pushed by a 50watt stereo marrants cd player/amp.

My issue inlies with the center speaker. I feel that the paradigm center is much better, and I am unable to hear the HTM61 in a more proper enviroment, and I know it gets a lot of flack because of its driver design. I do listen to more movies/tv than anything else, and I feel like im going to end up having to pick the lesser of two evils but im praying someone has a bit more experience with these speakers than me and can give me some solid advice.

Unable to really test it myself due to its setup at the local AV shop, is the off axis sound really that bad on the B&W's center? The couch sits about 10 feet back from the front channel speakers, its with the "center" area of the tv and the front speakers but my wife usually sits to the right and I to the left and sometimes I'm to the left and shes to the right, very seldom am I ever directly in the sweet spot, and I want to make sure that its going to sound great from either side.

Anybody have good experience with either of these and can give me some good opinions?

I have a couple of problems with that.

1. I'm kind of hooked on a 3-way center. The amount of range in dialogue etc was just amazing compared to some higher end 2 way center i've heard.

2. It's pretty much a must that I need to audition anything before I buy them, I refuse to play the buy and wait game and not being able to compare speakers side by side. It get quite expsensive for myself and for any company that has any trial period if I sit and purchase, return and maybe even re-purchase if I decide I like them.

The SVS's are intriguing but seem just out of what I want to spend.. plus I'm not a huge fan of Piano Black but they do seem nice and seem to have some good things said about them. I can get the Monitor Series 7 and B&W 683 setups for around ~2000 cash
Edited by Shady195 - 1/28/13 at 4:50pm

Yeah I was looking at the CMC2..

My problem is I would not be able to stand up the 685 Vertical, it would have to be laid on its side. I'm somewhat leaning towards asking if I leave a deposit if they will let me take the HTM61 home so i can just move around and see if the difference is really that noticeable to me in my enviroment. I'm hardly an audio professional so im thinking maybe I won't pick up on what some of these guys seem to.

I also have an HTD Level Two system and feel the same, they are great for the money just a bit lacking to me.

I really do like the sound of the Paradigms myself, but im just having a hard time, im very indecisive and often second guess myself, even after spending tons of money will go out shop around again, and I don't want to do that here.

I hoenstly feel like the 683's have a slight edge but im not convinced on that center, I think I need to go back and see if somehow they will just let me put it into one of their theater rooms or leave a deposit and take it home to try it.

How do people feel about Aperion? I was looking at MAYBE trying out the Verus Forte Towers and center as the center is 3 way. I know some recommend the Grands but I think the Forte's would fit the bill, if i think my HTD Level two bookshelf's fill up the room more than enough. I just want something with awesome mid range and highs that never break a sweat. Everything I've heard with Aluminum/Titanium tweeters seem to have highs that are much stronger and don't break up as much, the Aperion uses silk. Hardly an expert so I don't know if its material or more so the design. Where these HTD's break up bigtime these Paradigms/B&W/KEF's ive heard never seem too.

I was looking at EMP, but that center is huge! I was hoping to keep the center under 22" (so it fits in the bottom space, I almost forgot about EMPtek, might have to look and do some research on them as well.

So, I really don't want to have to deal with buying speaker direct, returning, trying others, returning and maybe re-buying as I can be extremely indecisive.

A lot of people say good things about speakers like EMP Tek, Axiom etc..

Really looking at the EMPTEK E55Ti and the E65Ci large center, anyone here heard them vs say the paradigm monitors?