I need advice on a good value for speakers

Independant dealers are going the way of the dinosaur because people forgot about customer service. It's still around and your local dealer is waiting for you. I used to buy from the web but found that building a relationship with my local dealer and purchasing from him made my life a whole lot easier. If I have an issue with something, it goes to him. If my stuff gets damaged, he has to deal with it. I've also built a great relationship with my local dealer so I get stuff like speaker cable at cost. I recently bought new speaker cable and saved $400 from the best price i could find online after a week of searching. This is just a little perk he does for his customers. Also, I get invited to demos of new equipment where there might be food and cocktails served and we have the same interest in music. he burns CD's for me that he thinks I might like......the list goes on. Of course your local dealer has to carry gear you like, which mine does. I guess maybe I'm lucky because my local shop is amazing and makes it worth it for me to deal with them directly. In fact, my shop is so amazing that expats from all over the world buy from him. The respect I have for this guy I wouldn't trade for the best internet deal on the planet. I'm not a dealer or anything like that. I just thought I'd share my experience so you know some of the benefits of buying local. If you have the option, you should look into it. I don't have any audio friends with the exception of my local dealer and it's helped me a great deal.

Totally agree, if you are going to buy on A'Gon don't waste the dealer's time.

Mirage OMD-15. They were designed to sell at $2500/pair and sound like it, but Vanns is selling the closeouts priced (right now) at slightly under $900/pair. I have had a pair for over three years and they are excellent on a wide variety of music types. I listen to classic rock and lots of acoustic music of various complexities and volume levels--acoustic pop, combo jazz, big band jazz, classical chamber music, and bombastic full scale orchestra. Also Diana Krall, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Holly Cole, etc. These speakers never disappoint. Excellent transparent natural sounding midrange, omnidirectional pattern makes the whole listening area a sweet spot, pretty amp-friendly.

Yet they are of high enough resolution that any upgrades you make will be heard. They take 100 hrs to basically break in, but you'll hear more improvement, resolution, and refinement up to around 1,000 hours.

At $950/pair, free shipping, and a 15-day return period, these are hard to beat.

I imagine all of those people who say "Go to your local dealer and listen" are those who actually HAVE a local dealer to go to. Now I have no idea where Eddyv lives but it's entirely possible (maybe even probable) that he has no local dealers. Many of us don't and as has been pointed out above, even if you do, the selection is likely to be sparse. How many speaker models less than $1,000 do you think they will carry?

I'll second the Vandersteen recommendation above. Another possibility is the Direct Acoustics Silent Speaker II. You can find a review here: http://www.stereophile.com/content/direct-acoustics-silent-speaker-ii. Yes, it's a Stereophile review but the reviewer is John Marks who seems to care about sound quality more than specifications. If someone were to ask my help in putting together an inexpensive system, I would have them seriously consider these.

IMHO, the best value by far would be used stock Thiel 3.5's. They can be had for well below your max price, and out perform speakers that cost many times that max price. The only caveat is that to make them really sing, you'll probably need to take the savings and apply it towards the cost of an appropriate amplifier. The Vandersteen 2's are another excellent value choice.