Budget floorstanders under $500 ?

Thanks for all the info. I've been looking into the Kef Q series since Ablang made the suggestion. Accessories4less.com (authorized Kef dealer) has the iQ3s for $300. On paper, I should get more mid bass with those and the price is right. As an experiment, I brought my B&W DM305 floorstanders up into my listening room and hooked them up to my Nuforce Icon. I didn't want to connect them to the Jolida because I've got a bad tube now. The Icon did a nice job driving the B&Ws but I lost a lot of the detail in the midrange and treble. I think I'll stick with monitors for that small room.

Incidentally, I used to own a set of Vandy 1B's. I think they'd totally overpower my small room based on the fact that the B&Ws seem to do so. I recall them being fairly laid back even though I drove them with a big old Carver M500T with 250 solid state wpc.

Take a look at Soliloquy 6.2i speakers . Even though they are now out of buisness the speaker was pretty good for the money . Nice internals , cabinets are so so . Tube friendly , nice bass and worked well in my 10X11 room .

Good luck .

I have owned the Soliloquy 6.2's and I feel they are excellent speakers, but I don't think you could find them for $500. or less. I have also owned the Mission M71's which are VERY good for the money but of course they don't have the best bottom end because of their size and price. Another speaker I used to own, Castle Stirling 3's, are very good speakers with much better bass than the Mission M71's, not as good as the Soliloquy 6.2's however, and they can be placed close to the wall and are beautifully finished like all Castle speakers. There is a pair on Audiogon right now for $300. which is a VERY fair price. BTW I have no affiliation with the person selling them. Good Luck.