NHT Absolute Tower vs. Paradigm Monitor 7??


Hello, newbie here and this is my first post.
I'm putting together a set up strictly for music listening (classical, vocals, jazz, cuban-brazilian, some rock). I have a decent Onkyo 7.1 receiver. I want to get a pair of good floorstanding speakers. My budget is about $1000. I'm trying to decide between the new NHT Absolute Tower, or a pair of Paradigm Monitor 7.
I have been able to listen to the Paradigm Monitor 7, but we have no dealer of NHT in town, so I can't listen to that one. Any suggestions on how to go about it?
Any other better options out there?
Thanks for any input.
a33flynt