How to audition used speakers???

I am a big Spica fan, but I would be hesitant to put them in a dorm system, unless you are sure you can keep someone from cranking them to 11. They are very different than floor stnading Klipsch speakers. They will sound much more natural, but not nearly as powerful, no matter how much amplifier you give them. One of their shortcomings was what the designer, John Bau, called dynamic compression, by which he meant that as you turned the volume up past a certain point, they didn't really get louder, but compressed the sound more. TC50s were the first speakers I bought, and at the time, they sounded so far superior to anything else I heard, there was no contest. Even by today's standards, they sound great. I do remember turning up Talking Heads and Yello fairly loudly with no damage, and liking the sound, it is a very clean, non-fatiguing, controlled sound, but not nightclub / bar room sound. Replacement drivers are no longer available, so if some knuckleheaded friend of a roomate does something stupid, yuou're out of luck, unless you buy another pair for parts.
It's interesting that Dphd mentioned the KEF 104.2s. If you can find and afford a pair, this might be a better choice. I remember hearing them in a store at the time and thinking they sounded kinda like my Spicas, but with better bass, and presumably more ruggedness.

The Magnepan QR speakers (I forget the exact model, they were in the $1600 - $1800 range, I think) were great speakers, if you can get them to work with your room. I had a pair on home trial for a bit, and found them to be very detailed and musical. The bass was problmeatic in my room, htough. While there was a lot of bass sound present, it seemed like some bass notes disappeared (I believe this is called a comb filtering effect). The deal-breaker for me was when I mistook the opening basses of a particular track for violins. At first I thought the Magnepans were so good because I had never heard the very quiet violins that opened the track. When I played it again on my other speakers, I realized they weren't really violins. This more than any other speaker I have heard, needs to be auditioned in the final room before buying. Or, buy at a price you cn sell them at later if they don't work out in your room.