Best speakers under $500? Fire away!

akg_ca... good point!  :)

My budget system is:

NAD 3020 Integrated Amplifier (Completely restored, recapped, serviced to factory fresh specs)
Onkyo C-7030 CD Player
Musical Fidelity V90-DAC
Bluejean cables

I am thinking that your Klipsch speakers are very easy to drive making them a good match with your integrated. In what size room are you placing this system, and how loud do you play it? 

mesch... room is 17 X 17.  I do not play it loud.  "Normal" listening levels.

Spica TC50

Looking for suggestions for budget speakers under $500. Can be floor or bookshelf.

First, there are no best speakers at $500 pair. Or at $1000 pair. And so on, so forth.

Only the speakers that are best for you. And the speakers that can best be driven by your vintage NAD. And the ones that integrate the best with your room.

While I am sure that the Elacs that were suggested are good speakers, they probably are not the best speakers with your 20 wpc into 8 ohm vintage amp. The Elacs are 4 ohm with a sensitivity of only 85dB making them rather hard to drive and not the "best choice" for you. They are also rear ported so should be used with stands to sound their best. Do you have stands or did you plan on putting them on a bookshelf?

My suggestion is to understand your amps capabilities and how they relate to the two key specs of a speaker - impedance and sensitivity. Then make up a short list of models that are within your budget and go out and audition.

So there is a lot more to it than simply asking for suggestions on the internet. Doing that seldom results in the best speaker for you.