I'm no expert but I suspect that answers to questions of this nature need to come with several caveats. My understanding is that Magicos, Wislons, Sonus-Fabers etc might be able to out-perform some 8ks, but there are so many variables; the room / DAC / pre-amp / power amp, cabling....

I suspect that many 8ks will out-perform many (eg) Wilsons as the 8ks are 'very good' out of the box whereas Wilsons kind of need the planets aligned to really sing.

Or something like that. smile

Cinema: Meridian 271, 3 x DSP640 (behind screen), 4 x DSP320 (in-ceiling), 4 x DSP3100 (surrounds), 2 x AC12 (interface). 2 x Perlisten D12s subs, Lyngdorf MP40 processor. DT 145" 2.35 AT screen. Sony VW870 projector & S-T lens, Lumagen Radiance Pro.
Lounge: Roon, NUC, Kef LS50 Wireless + 2 x REL Gibraltar-2 subs

Meridian owner since 1998