Of your listed brands so far, my personal favorite would be Totems. However, in that price range, with a bit of negotiating, you should be able to get some really good offerings from either Thiel or ProAc, both of which do a good job on rock (and pretty much everything else), IMHO.
One other consideration that would save you some money would be NHT ST-4's. They retail for about $1,000, but I was extremely impressed with them, and it is my belief that they best many speakers in the $2,500 price range. I certainly prefer them to B&W's, but then again, I have never really been a fan of B&W's (as you can probably tell, given that I like Thiel, ProAc, Totem, and NHT).
On the used market, a pair of Thiel CS3.6's make for one heck of a bargain. That's what I have in my system. I drive them with a pair of amps costing about four times what I paid for the speakers (Theta Enterprises), and to my ears, the 3.6's are worthy of just about any gear you would put upstream of them. Of course, 3.6's in a 12 x 12 room... probably not a good idea. 2.4's might be awefully nice, though.
One other consideration that would save you some money would be NHT ST-4's. They retail for about $1,000, but I was extremely impressed with them, and it is my belief that they best many speakers in the $2,500 price range. I certainly prefer them to B&W's, but then again, I have never really been a fan of B&W's (as you can probably tell, given that I like Thiel, ProAc, Totem, and NHT).
On the used market, a pair of Thiel CS3.6's make for one heck of a bargain. That's what I have in my system. I drive them with a pair of amps costing about four times what I paid for the speakers (Theta Enterprises), and to my ears, the 3.6's are worthy of just about any gear you would put upstream of them. Of course, 3.6's in a 12 x 12 room... probably not a good idea. 2.4's might be awefully nice, though.