Thanks for the explanation Ian. It's been a few years since I actually looked into speaker prices. I have way too many speakers already, so I just haven't paid much attention to the market. I just did a quick search on the net, and things have most certainly changed. Looks like the Paradigm Studio 100's are now going for about $3500 a pair. Last time I looked at them, they were about $2000 a pair. Which is also when I bought my M80's at $1200 a pair.
If I were looking for a set of tower speakers, the M100's would probably beckon to me. I'd want real wood and a piano finish. That puts them at roughly $3800, which is a tad more than Studio 100's, but with free shipping and the M100's have more drivers. So I reckon, comparatively speaking, the M100's are a better bargain.
It would be interesting to sit in on a blind listening evaluation of the M80 and M100, as I find it difficult to imagine a speaker sounding a whole lot better than my "old" M80's. The LFR's, well they are a completely different animal with drivers firing in different directions, so I actually expect them to sound different. Maybe not better, but definitely different.
