Small, direct, high quality, in home trial: Fritz.
Made in California by designer with 40 years experience. Check these forums for "Fritz." Very high value for the $$.
Stand Mount Speakers
It seems like there is an endless amount of options these days, some good and some not so good. I've been using a very clean set of B&W 602 S3 speakers for quite some time. Great when the volume is up, but not so great at the low end. I'm in a 1300 sq ft condo now and the main room is about 800 sq ft. Current equipment is as follows:
Emotiva XMC-1 Processor Emotiva BasX 5 channel amp Emotiva Airmotiv 8 Sub Thorens TD 145 Mac Mini Apple TV
I listen to a lot of vinyl, multiple genres and stream some music and movies.
I'm looking for bookshelf/stand-mount speakers. Was leaning toward the Focal Aria K2 906 or the Dynaudio Evoke 20. Other recommendations are greatly appreciated.