KRK user here as well - had a pair of V8 for about 10 years - just got a new pair VXT 8 - very happy with them - i do remember when I first got them took a while to get used to them but now I know them, good to mix on.
I also got, as they were on special at the time, a pair of KRK VXT 5's and use on my Computer system - they are pretty good as well especially for that use
Nigel
 

Bajan Blue
KRK user here as well - had a pair of V8 for about 10 years - just got a new pair VXT 8 - very happy with them - i do remember when I first got them took a while to get used to them but now I know them, good to mix on.
I also got, as they were on special at the time, a pair of KRK VXT 5's and use on my Computer system - they are pretty good as well especially for that use
Nigel
 

Now that you mention it I may as well state that KRK VXT8s are what I chose as well after my research. Now I wouldn't be able to part with them. Yes they are excellent.

no comment on the veracity of the video...
 
If you are accustomed to ribbon tweeters then I would expect you won't like the Sceptres... they are a coaxial horn design, with all the benefits and disadvantages thereof.

I like ribbons, I like soft-domes, but I am most comfortable with horns - the studios I worked in as a young lad all had 604s or variations on 604s. It is what I got accustomed to. And I'm still working on my 809s to get them back in service.

I will eventually add a ribbon based design, probably the Adam or Eve, maybe the Presonus, but that's a ways off.

This all reinforces my long-held presumption that beyond an acceptable level of performance, it comes down to whatever you get used to. I could probably adapt to any of the suggestions made in this thread. There's going to be an ear-training curve, no matter if one buys mid-level speakers or mortgages the house for ATCs. Thousands of successful records have been mixed on 604s and NS10s, which don't have a lot in common other than longevity and legend.
 
At the moment I'm leaning toward the ADAM A8X, mainly because they're most similar to the speakers I've been using for the last 8 years and might therefore have a shorter learning curve. But lawajava's been encouraging me to come listen to his VXT8s, so they're on my list now. They're also $800 less than the ADAMs, so that's a plus.
 
Plenty of time to agonize over this decision. I haven't settled the insurance claim yet (still scrounging around for receipts and serial numbers) and my first priority is to replace my live rig. Amplifiers, the Neo Ventilator and the TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch top the list. Then it'll take weeks to configure a new DAW, locating backups and begging vendors for new licenses. 
 
The good news is that not having a DAW has turned out to be a creative catalyst. Without the distractions of recording, I am composing more music and exercising my chops. I'm playing and singing better than I have in 10 years. I want to jam again. When I do start recording again, I'll probably do more collabs than before. Temporarily losing my engineer hat has reminded me that I was always a musician first and an audio geek second.

I suppose one other less conventional one you could look at, if you like ribbons, is Emotiva's Stealth 8 monitors. Not a ton of info out there but the people who have them seem to like them. Run you about $1500/pair. May be hard to find a place to audition them locally (check their dealer list and see but usually those guys have the HT gear) but they will do a 30-day no fault return if you don't like them (I do believe you have to cover shipping back to them though). They look to have very solid bass and their graphs don't show any obvious resonances. However it looks like their dispersion may be kinda crap, not sure if that is an Emotiva thing or a ribbon thing.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sometimes afraid of giving gear lists for this reason. Trusting people I don't really know because they can play. And so many performers have habits. I often figure if I'm robbed it will probably be someone I've called friend.

That said, I regularly leave crowded bars in the middle of the night with everything I came with and should I leave a cable, someone will bring it by the next day.

I know nothing about monitors. I use speakers I bought in 1995. Inexpensive Celestions. Some kinda B&K amp.

Thanks for the Emotiva tip, Sycraft. It's a manufacturer I wasn't aware of. I'm guessing they started up sometime after 2008, the last time I did an extensive survey of product offerings.
 
These do indeed look interesting. Yes, it is a characteristic of ribbon tweeters that they have narrow dispersion. You have to be sitting in the sweet spot and have them aimed directly at your ears with nothing impinging on line-of-sight. That's the downside to ribbons. But that negative is easily offset by their unparalleled accuracy and low distortion. My ADAMs were unforgivingly precise in that way, but once a mix sounded good on them I could be confident it would sound good everywhere.
 
Stealth8 vs ADAM A8X: what I've learned about Emotiva:
 
The Stealth8 is stylishly similar to the A8X, with its beveled corners and ribbon tweeter. However, they differ in several significant ways. The Emotiva product is much higher-powered, with 200W amps top and bottom, versus ADAM's 50W on top and 150W on the bottom. However, the Stealth8 has polypropylene drivers versus ADAM's Nonex (similar to Kevlar) ultra-stiff, ultra-light synthetic material. An often-heard criticism of polypropylene drivers is that they tend to sound "hi-fi" or "smooth", potentially masking flaws in your mix that a Kevlar cone might highlight.
 
The Stealth8's frequency response is impressive, going down to 30 Hz at -1.75 dB, easily meeting my requirement for a subwoofer-less setup. That's probably because the Steath8 cabinet is 35% larger (and 13 pounds heavier) than the ADAM, negating the A8X's slightly larger 8.5" speaker. 
 
One of the biggest design differences is the Stealth8 is rear-ported. Whether that's a plus or a minus depends on your setup. If your speakers are close to a wall or (shudder) a corner, then you don't want rear-ported speakers. Fortunately, that's not a concern for me, as my speakers sit about 5 feet from the back wall with acoustical absorption in between.
 
Another potential advantage is that Emotiva is a U.S. company (Tennessee), which would save on shipping if I ever had to send one back. They also have free shipping within the U.S. ADAM is in Germany. Both products are manufactured in China, like pretty much all affordable speakers are nowadays.
 
Biggest drawback is that they are only sold direct - no dealers, so no way to hear them in advance of forking over $1500. There is a 30-day return policy, though. Anybody here happen to live in Franklin, TN?
 
The only other downside I can see so far is that they are butt-ugly. Like the Stealth bomber they're named after.
 

I still use a set of the original Mackie HR824's. They've lasted over 15 years and still doing well. If you can find a used set, obviously, I'd recommend them. They were designed to use the amp not only for pushing the sealed enclosure, but forcefully keeping the woofer inline withe the signal should it start to lag behind, or flop in the wrong direction, causing distortion. They also do come with the passive radiator in the rear, which made a huge difference for me.
 
However, even the HR824 needs a sub if you do any Mastering exercises. Comparing them to my Polk 2.3TLs, definitely tells me they are weak in sub-ranges in an open room. Closer to a wall, they're better in the deep lows.
 
Dynaudio makes their own drivers, something many companies don't. I'd certainly give them a whirl, if you can get them. They know speakers!!

Bob Fox, a one-time forum regular who doesn't come around anymore, replaced his Yamahas with a pair of used Mackie HR824s, and they actually solved some resonance issues he'd had in his studio. I got to hear them side by side, and the Mackies were a noticeable improvement, even before testing. The passive radiator seems to offset the problems usually associated with rear-ported speakers.
 
Everybody tells me, though, to look for the old ones, before they started making them in China.
 
Published specs for the Mark 2 model say they go down to 37 Hz at -1.5 dB. For my kind of music, that's good enough to not need a sub. That's my plan - to save some money by not having to replace the sub.

brconflict
 
Dynaudio makes their own drivers, something many companies don't. I'd certainly give them a whirl, if you can get them. They know speakers!!

Don't know if they still make all of 'em, as some production has been outsourced to China. But all-in-all Dynaudio is amazingly detailed, both high and low. I've been using them for some 20 years at home and wouldn't want to live without them.