You might want to check out Ohm Acoustics - www.ohmspeakers.com. You can by a new pair of MWTs right around your budget. These should suffice for a small room (cubic foot ranges for each model are posted on the web site). I am currently auditioning another model in the Walsh series. Although it is much too early to come to any conclusions, piano reproduction is a strong point. Another important point is that this model line is all designed to sound identical, from the least to most expensive. The size differences in the models is only for different sized rooms. They are sold factory-direct with a 120-day (!) home trial period. Nothing to loose but the round-trip shipping.
A used speaker in your price range that might work would be the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature (the current model, 2Ce Signature II might be hard to find for $1K). These do need to be placed away from the side and front walls, and they are physically fairly large, though.
A used speaker in your price range that might work would be the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature (the current model, 2Ce Signature II might be hard to find for $1K). These do need to be placed away from the side and front walls, and they are physically fairly large, though.