I will second miketauson’s comment on Vandersteens. I currently run Vandersteen 3A’s, that I was lucky to get at a grand. Prior to that, I had the 2C’s, which easily fit in your budget. There was a comment about nil difference between floorstanders and standmounts ... I couldn’t disagree more. The best standmounts I have had in my system were Quad 12L’s that on certain material were amazingly good for the $550 I paid. But it is impossible to expect the bass output from a speaker that size can match something like Vandersteen 2C’s or 3A’s. Before I bought my 2C’s I went to a boutique shop in Seattle, where I listened to some Epos, Rega and other speakers thinking that if I bought new, I’d get better quality for my money. Under a grand, I personally haven’t found anything. Trust me, if I could find a smaller speaker than my 3A’s that would give me the sonic pleasure they do in my space, I would swap them out in a minute. Hasn’t happened yet.
If you don’t normally play your music really loud, you can easily enjoy smaller speakers. Consider A/D/S, Boston Acoustics or Infinity? I had some Infinity RSM's (Reference Studio Monitor) that almost kicked my Vandersteen’s out ... it really depends on your system, the amount of power you have, the type of music you play and your room size. Boston Acoustics A150/200/400 are very nice and architecturally mid century modern cool. Sound nice as well. Also, the BA T830 is typically a very nice lower price speaker that in a smaller room would be really nice.
My final comment on Vandersteen’s is this. Richard is a smart guy and designed the 2/3 line to be forgiving with many different sources and still sound impressive. My setup has two Parasound HCA-1500A amps in mono driving the 3A’s ... my brother-in-law is enjoying his 2C’s with a Pioneer SX-850, which I had my doubts would sound good ... and he loves them. They sound nice.
If you don’t normally play your music really loud, you can easily enjoy smaller speakers. Consider A/D/S, Boston Acoustics or Infinity? I had some Infinity RSM's (Reference Studio Monitor) that almost kicked my Vandersteen’s out ... it really depends on your system, the amount of power you have, the type of music you play and your room size. Boston Acoustics A150/200/400 are very nice and architecturally mid century modern cool. Sound nice as well. Also, the BA T830 is typically a very nice lower price speaker that in a smaller room would be really nice.
My final comment on Vandersteen’s is this. Richard is a smart guy and designed the 2/3 line to be forgiving with many different sources and still sound impressive. My setup has two Parasound HCA-1500A amps in mono driving the 3A’s ... my brother-in-law is enjoying his 2C’s with a Pioneer SX-850, which I had my doubts would sound good ... and he loves them. They sound nice.