What’s hot in monitors from $2K to $3K in 2012?

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the new Tyler Acoustics MM5 10" 3-way ported monitor. Claimed bass extension to 28 Hz; 87 dB sensitivity, but that should figure to 90 dB with a stereo pair plus room gain. You would probably have to wait awhile to get a pair (unless he has some on hand), but that's also true of Vapor and some of the other bo-teeky monitors mentioned here.

Is Soundfield using a KEF UniQ driver for the mid/tweet? Interesting approach. Take a very fast and linear almost full-range coaxial and add a powered woofer to flesh out the bottom.

06-12-12: Loftarasa
Show me anyone who has a 2-way or 3-way monitor in your price range that can go down flat to 35hz and I'll show you a liar!

I think you should be realistic about the bass capabilities here of floorstanders, too. Unless it's got a transmission line cabinet and at least dual 12" woofers, 35hz is just not going to happen!

I agree with just about everything you say. The OP's original requirements are unnecessarily restrictive and nearly unrealistic. A small floorstander with the proper backwave management and room boundary reinforcement could get him where he needs to be.

And although 12" woofers can slam out a lot of bass (in an appropriately large (say 9 cu. ft.) cabinet, there are plenty of speakers that make it flat to 26 Hz or lower with a pair of 8" woofers. Two examples are the Wilson Sasha W/P and the Mirage OM-28. My 1996 Mirage M5si's are dead flat to 29 Hz with a pair of 6.5" woofers.

+1 for the transmission line, but the Atlantic Technology AT-1 makes it past 35 Hz with a pair of uniquely loaded 5.25" woofers in a D'Appolito array.

The PSB Synchrony Two Tower is practically tailor-made to your parameters other than that it is floorstanding. However, it is a small tower which would disappear into your music room--7.6"x11" footprint and only 39" tall. That's a smaller footprint and overall space intrusion than just about any stand-mounted speaker up to the task. The Synchrony Two sensitivity is rated at 88dB anechoic, 90 dB with room gain, and a claimed -1.5 dB at 36 Hz and a lower cutoff of 29 Hz.

List price is $3500/pair, but Crutchfield has them on sale at $2798/pair with free shipping.

Although this is not an exotic solution like the boutique models previously mentioned, PSB has the advantage of vertical integration (they make their own drivers) and economy of scale to deliver high value at a lower cost. PSBs are characteristically clean, linear, and dynamic with a particularly natural and transparent-sounding midrange.

PSB has a lot of respect in the high end press and among high end vendors. My local PSB dealer also features Wilson, D'Agostino, Magnepan, Vienna, Audio Research, Ayre, and Transparent.

Rave reviews abound for this speaker, including TAS, which designated it the best PSB speaker they'd reviewed to date.