Maybe you're right but B&W speakers tend to hold their value better than most, and especially the 800 series, so that needs to be taken into account, along with B&W's customer service reputation.
And if the OP likes the B&W sound, as many classical music buffs do then the B&W's are probably still the ticket. I don't know of any speaker at less than twice the RRP of the D3 series that can reproduce piano like the D3 series does.
The more I read and think about it I'm starting to lean towards other brands and tower speakers...
To be honest, I don't feel comfortable spending $6,000 on a pair of bookshelf speakers that require additional $1,000 worth of stands, they look beautiful with the original stands but it feels like wasted $.
So like I mentioned before I'm open for different brands and used market.
One of my top choices is Revel Performa3 F208
Other considerations: KEF R900
What do you guys think?
So holding value, brand recognition are surely important factors, but tell it Mechanizmo dude, which bought hugely massive PBN speakers, which honestly Is the very first time I even heard that brand.
I agree, Philharmonic audio is what consider a tiny - it's really one man operation, but I do recommend you do a bit on research on him - it's worth it. Did you know what among other, we help to design most of Salk Audio speakers?
And speaking of Salk, During AH GTG 2012 many vendors came to showcase their products, but nothing even came close to mind blowing sound of SS8 towers. They are a bit over your budget, but other Salk tower speakers could provide very similar sound signature, like VERACITY HT3
First I double dare to find Salk speakers second hand - owners don't usually decide to part with them and second, from what I seen prices seem to hold nicely. I'd guess not unheard off to get back around 70% of original value ( minus custom veneer extra if selected). Finding the right buyer could be bit harder, but not impossible.
Imo HT3 easily beat 804 D3's hands down better speaker in all objective aspects.