Keep Shopping!

There are so many bikes out there. You've tried a lot, but I wouldn't say it's time to buy an expensive bike without test riding. WSD may or may not be the thing for you, I wouldn't eliminate non-wsd, I would keep trying both until you have found something you like. Have you checked out KHS? They have a really good bang for the buck. The xc604 retails well under $2k and is a very well speced bike using the 4 bar suspension. I don't think the 07s have shipped yet, but if you were willing to wait a little bit, the 07 xc604 has an msrp listed at $1599 and has the horst link.

Also, remember that bikes can/should be fine tuned to you. While test riding one, if something doesn't feel right with the setup, talk to the shop and have them change it out! We do that all the time here. Someone wants to test ride a bike, we'll fit them to it, change stems, handlebars, etc and send them on their way. If there is anything that doesn't feel right, we'll try to fix it. So, if there is a shop you like, test rode a bike and felt something was off, have them change some parts and see if it feels better. That's part of the benefit of shopping at a lbs instead of online, they should be helping you with the fit on the test ride.