I've made a list of all the speakers mentioned in this post, along with a few others I've ran across. Something I realized during this search is the cabinet/size means more to me than I thought. Or rather I figured I would not run into so many ones I had issues with. Even the ones I'm leaning toward has me on guard since it's black wood vinyl veneer. Sound wise, well I think I'm going to have to trust all of you who know way more than I. I trust every single speaker suggested here would probably make me very happy. So my focus was on finding a speaker that is floorstanding, but around the 36" height, with either black or dark wood color, and NON glossy. But that has proven rare it appears to me. So, here I am with my choices.
EMP teks: high gloss only-no go
Chanes: 40", black vinyl. a good option, sure wish it wasn't vinyl..
Aperion intimus: 37", stealth black finish. can't find any pics showing me how the finish looks.
Fluance sig series: 47". too tall..
Fluance XL7F: 46", too tall..
Fluance XL5F: 40", but probably just too low end for me..
Klipsch RP-280F: 43" tall, borderline too tall. don't know of the finish/material..
XTZ sound 95.44: 42.5 tall, borderline too tall. tried to contact them about grilles, no response. not impressed with their customer service..
SVS primes: 37", black vinyl. another good option, but again wish they weren't vinyl.
ELAC: not sure on these options, but i'm entertaining them as well.
So just updating the thread on where I'm at. Pretty busy lately and in no hurry, but do want to keep the thread alive until I make a decision and purchase. Thanks again for everyone's input.