A SUPER SALE, and a new pair of Dynaudio Excite 14

. . . and  now we are back again.  Just stepped out to the restroom.  No, seriously, wrote a book (Chermpf) and stuff, started a new job, learned that I cannot drink beer without becoming ill, blah, blah, blah.  But a number of interesting stereo things happened since 2015, er, make that 2014.  So now is as good a time as any as to write poorly about any and all of it.  Where to start?  Well, just before Christmas, I received one of these in the mail:

Once in a lifetime?  How could I pass it up?  So, on a rainy Monday, my wife was kind enough to accompany me on a trip to the SUPER SALES EVENT.  Which it kinda was.  It seems that Audio Den is planning a renovation and a ton of old gear was hauled out of closets, basements, sub-cellars and small pockets of alternate realities that protrude unexpectedly and somewhat suggestively into our universe (this latter category included only old Pioneer Elite Laser Disc machines, and one non-functional portable plasma focus) in order to make room for the planned changes.  My wife picked out a pair of Paradigm Cinema series surround speakers to replace the Polk Mini Monitors I had stolen from her upstairs TV set up for my office system (more on the Polks later- they were a Goodwill find pretty much NIB), But despite all of the goodies, nothing stuck my fancy until I saw that these had been deeply marked down:

Yes, a pair of Dynaudio Excite 14 monitors in walnut finish, and as the astute reader can tell from the photo, I bought them and they now live in my listening room.  I did not get rid of the Dynaudio Focus 220s, they have just moved to the closet briefly while I have an affair with a pair of small, ultra-high quality 2-way bookshelves again.  I will be selling my DM 2/7s however:

 . . . as there is no room for them.  They are very good, but they are not really in the same league as the Excite 14s.  They neither image as well nor have as natural bass.  That being said, they were phenomenal teamed up with a DM Center in our home theater.  They're on eBay as I type, and I hope they will find a good home.  In a different house, I would keep them. I am loving the Excite 14s though.  Spooky good imaging, and terrific bass output for such a small cabinet.  Quite a bit of the Allman Brother's Idlewild South re-master (which I had just gotten for Christmas) was played loudly on New Years Eve through these very small speakers and no one complained.  They are very reminiscent of the Focus 110, which I listened to extensively before I bought the Focus 140s.  Ah, the 140s.  GREAT speaker.  Why didn't I keep them?  I need speaker stands however, as I swiped the one pair I own from the home theater the first couple of days I owned the Excite 14s, and the stands have to go back.  Speaker stands are expensive and generally unattractive, and I would like to find something that does these speakers justice both in sound and in looks.  Any suggestions?