"Best" speakers new/used under $3,000?

Ditto on the Merlins. It is a speaker than ended my auditions and much of the curiosity to hear other speaker systems. I previously owned Magnepan 1.6. My friends run everything from Vandersteen 5a to Maggie 3.6 and we all enjoy the Merlins. I currently have TSM-MXr and may get a used set of VSMs (or possibly new) for a 2nd system.

Rob

OHM Walsh speakers can do it all with any kind of music and might end your search for good.

Can be had new or used for that price or significantly less even.

For larger rooms, you need larger models, otherwise smaller models used for $1000 or perhaps even less should do fine

I too would consider Merlins if I were you.

"Hyperion HPS-938".

I read the reviews, which are stellar, but after calling the company in CA and speaking with a nice fellow who spoke limited English, I am not bowled over with their operation. He indicated they have no HPS-938 in stock and they don't build them very often because they are expensive. He said he does have a B-stock set available. But he really wanted me to buy a set of their new HPS-738, which is a scaled down version of the HPS-968. However, I could not get much of a feel for the differences. Also, it appears the nearest dealer where I could actually listen to them is about 260 miles away.

Consider Selah Audio Tempestas. RAAL ribbon tweeter, Accuton ceramic mid, Scanspeak Illuminator woofer in an excellent cabinet. I think you need to go above $10k retail to match them. Tempestas are $3000 in standard cabinets. I own Merlin TSM-MMEs, which I like, but the Tempestas are better in every way, and not by a small amount.