In that price range, the Charney speakers, particularly with 8" drivers (there are many options), are a screaming bargain. They are also extremely efficient and can be used with low-powered amps (the best sounding amps are low-powered, regardless of price). Push the budget a little more, and the AER bd 3 8" driver becomes an option; I heard a Charney with that speaker and could not believe how good it sounded--dynamic, exciting, harmonically rich and saturated, coherent from top to bottom and free from most "nasties" (excessive sibilance, graininess, etc.).
I cannot begin to emphasize how important high efficiency is to overall sonic performance. High efficiency makes use of low-powered tube amps possible. Most of the very best amps are single ended triode or low-powered pentodes or medium powered output transformerless tube amps. I particularly dislike most high powered tube amps that use a large array of tubes such as KT88, KT120 and KT150s; the smaller cousins of these amps sound so much better, but cannot put out much juice. Most of the high powered solid state amps sound decent, these days, but, they sound just a touch lifeless when playing at reasonable volume levels, and for some reason, I don't get as engaged in listening with these amps. There are some low-powered solid state amps that sound decent, such as the various First Watt amps.
I cannot begin to emphasize how important high efficiency is to overall sonic performance. High efficiency makes use of low-powered tube amps possible. Most of the very best amps are single ended triode or low-powered pentodes or medium powered output transformerless tube amps. I particularly dislike most high powered tube amps that use a large array of tubes such as KT88, KT120 and KT150s; the smaller cousins of these amps sound so much better, but cannot put out much juice. Most of the high powered solid state amps sound decent, these days, but, they sound just a touch lifeless when playing at reasonable volume levels, and for some reason, I don't get as engaged in listening with these amps. There are some low-powered solid state amps that sound decent, such as the various First Watt amps.