I don't know how I feel about the focals for a music system, I have heard focals that are amaizng but their entry level stuff is good for the sale price but not great...
I tend to go by value, so I hear a speaker that costs $100, then a speaker that costs $400 the $400 speaker has to do everything much better than the 100 unit, then once you get a baseline, for me it is the ascend cbm170's for $300} which IMO do everything well, so I compare all the bookshelfs I hear to them, for example comparing them to the csb1's, you get a much better aesthetic and mechanical package, magnetic grilles, piano finish, sloped front, flush banana plugs, velour covers, ect vs the std grilles and vinyl sticker finish on the cbm's, so on aesthetics alone the csb1's are worth $100 more if they sound the same as the cbm's, but they sound better, they have better everything so its a no brainer in cost wise...
But the 170 is still my staple for comparing bookshelf speakers... A $1000 speaker has to be very very impressive for me to buy it.... for under $800 the CSB1 get my vote, then you have a lot of other options {most of which aren't twice as good as the csb's but still satisfying} I want to hear the philharmonitors and the ascend sierra 2's but the imagine B's are nice, the sierras are really nice, WOW1's, ect ect ect the lists can be endless, you just need to hear them in your room to make the best choice...
