smaller speakers for critical listening?

I have a pair of P3ESRs and a pair of active Focal Core monitors, the smallest one in the range.  I keep going back to the Focals.  Spend the money you would spend on a proper amp on superlative interconnects, and give them time to break in...they are both critical and euphonic.  I run them straight from my TT2.  Pair them with quality mains, decent power treatment, and you’ll be very happy I think.

I.have a pair of Rogers LS3/5A's that I bought from an eBay seller in Lithuania for $960 + shipping. At that price how could I resist! A 45+ years old design that still sounds better than most small stand-mounts! Sure, it lacks a bottom octave of bass and has limited power-handling but it sounds quite addictive! Congratulations to Dudley Harwood and the BBC team whose goal was to design a small monitor speaker for recording vans that could reproduce voice accurately!

@hilde45
Nice review. Do you have a review on your Salks ?

This is a great question.  I personally prefer monitors to floor standing speakers.  I owned Infinity Kappa 8.1s for many years and was quite satisfied and then I got married.  Not surprisingly my (now ex) wife was not a huge fan of 4' high, 15" wide speakers.  One of the few things my ex-wife and new wife have in common is their animosity toward large speakers.  

I started hunting for new speakers and listened to probably 30 different products and ended up with stand mounts/book shelf speakers as they created a lot of flexibility in terms of placement.  But couldn't get over the fact that the sound was a little thin in my room which was 13 x 20 and I was sitting 15' from the speakers.  I got a better/different amp and it helped.  Then in a larger room, 15' x 30' with vaulted ceiling those same speakers just sounded tiny.  

For a long time I would make the argument that stand-mounts are better because the optimal placement for mid and treble reproduction is often different than for bass.  And this is true but at a root level, some stand mount speakers sound small and can't overwhelm the size of the room you find them in.  

Not all small speakers sound small.  I talked to Andrew Quint who writes for TAS.  He reviewed speakers under $20K from AXPONA and said the thing he was really focused was the juxtaposition of little speakers delivering big sounds or big speakers delivering little sounds.  

It is possible to get close to a full range experience in terms of soundstage, especially with a properly integrated subwoofer but it does require care in selecting the right speaker.  I am 100% certain it can be had in the price range you have outlined. 

The real questions become, what do you want in terms of sound profile?  If you are replacing maggies, ribbons or AMTs will offer interesting options if that is the sound profile you like. 

What is the challenge you are facing in terms of placement?  Is it distance from the wall?  Width?  Both?   Many stand-mounts need room from the back wall due to porting and even if they are front ported doesn't mean near wall placement works.  Distance from the back wall absolutely impacts how the soundstage comes together.  Also, are you open to adding a subwoofer?  

Other things I am not seeing.  What amplification are you using?  That will very much impact the sound and what speakers you can drive.  Will that change with with a new speaker selection if need be?  

There are a million brands and the key is getting one that will deliver the sound you want in the space you have.  The best way to evaluate that is in home.  I can think of a variety of products that make sense in terms of sound but need to understand other variables before a wise recommendation can be made.