I used to watch Jay as he is Canadian but his reviews are mostly subjective. We mentioned Arendal earlier in this thread. The S version of their speakers are smaller and what you loose primarily is dynamics but you are never going to push those speakers to their max. The bigger speakers also usually have a little more bass extension but I can't remember if you have a subwoofer or are ok with adding one? The Arendal towers go low enough for music playback without a subwoofer. The sub is more for low frequency movie effects.
Arendal allows in home trials (free return policy). You can also consider their bookshelf and Monitor speakers. ShadyJ (James Larson) reviewed the Monitors years ago and they performed very well. I came very close to ordering a pair but no free returns in Canada. I think you would be hard pressed to find a bad review on Arendal.
He actually does quasi-anechoic measurements. In fact, Audioholics has published measurements performed by Jay where he describes the methodology: outdoor/free-air measurement, gated response to remove reflections, then nearfield woofer/port measurements spliced in for the low frequencies.
If the goal is downsizing, I wouldn't solve that by buying more versions of the same thing. Another pair of large passive speakers, another amp, another DAC, etc. He already has two sets of mains, a Pass XA25, Yamaha AVR, Meitner MA3i and a center channel. That's a lot of boxes, cables and redundancy.
This is actually one of those situations where I think the KEF LS60 Wireless makes a ton of sense. Two LS60s essentially give him the speakers, amplification, DAC, DSP and streamer in two relatively slim enclosures. HDMI eARC handles the TV. For music, they're a legitimate high-performance 2-channel system rather than a lifestyle compromise. I wouldn't get too hung up on losing the center channel unless he has a specific need for one. Most television/multichannel material can be properly downmixed to 2-channel, with the center information reproduced as a phantom center. Been doing it for years.
I'm completely happy with my Arendals and Mac gear, and I'd recommend both without hesitation to anyone shopping anywhere from the $1,000 to $100,000 range. They're THAT good.
But for what the LS60 is: a complete, genuinely high-end system that basically needs nothing more than a wall outlet and a TV... I don't know of anything else that does it as well, let alone better.
P.S. I did audition the KEF LS60s and very easily could have gone that route had the Anniversary 1528s not been so ridiculously lust-worthy. I'm also still able to move these monsters, albeit begrudgingly, so I've probably got another 10 years before I'm where the OP is.
Then? LS60s.
