Picking speakers 3000-5000 budget

@twangy57 

So what you are saying is that you struggle with indecision!
Well crap!!!

I’m the king of indecision. 

There were three sisters. I met them one at a time, and first was Debbie. She was the most beautiful girl in the world, without a doubt! After school, we  spent every moment together every day for several weeks. She was so sweet!

Then, I met Terri! Wow!!! Oh my, she was definitely the most beautiful in the world, but I was dating Debbie! I didn’t know what to do. My life was a disaster!

But finally, I met Vicki. She was definitely the one for me!!!! She had the most beautiful brown eyes, and soooo sweet!!! We got along so well, she felt like an old friend.

My confusion must have been very apparent to all three of these wonderful young ladies, and I was in complete gridlock!!!!!  I was ruined. ...If I could just pick one without messing up everything...

I was so confused that I avoided them for a week, and then just blew the whole situation!!! Any one of them would have been a match made in heaven.

So, several years later, I met Debbie at a store. She was just perfect in every way that I could imagine. And I knew I would regret my mistakes for the rest of my life!!!

Indecision is the worst.

Hello! I have a  McIntosh MA7900 integrated amp @ 200 w.p.c. since you already have a preamp a MC2200 Mac amp w/ 200 w.p.c. would be nice pick up one for $3,500 or so. Any of the older Mac stuff is good if it's been serviced. My living room's kind of small so best fit for me are the JBL L-100T's  with upgraded crossovers which you can buy on line from the crossover guy. I prefer the sound of these to the more popular JBL L-100's and you can pick up a nice pair for about $2,000. If you have a larger room the JBL4333 studio monitors are just great or their home theater equivlent L-300's , they have a cool glass top. They may need refoaming , rework crossovers or a re-cap but they sound fantastic , cost about $4,000=$5,000. Have fun.

One speaker not mentioned is the Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G. Stereophile Class A rated, Absolute Sound, HI-Fi News, Soundstage, and about any other magazine who listened to them gave them highest reviews and 'Best of ...' awards. My first thought when I heard them were "This is what JBL's should sound like". Same dynamics and punch, but much better balance, tighter more extended bass than any Klipsch and better imaging. The dual rear ports allow a fair amount of bass tuning for your room, and the bulid quality is way above the price point. At $3200 a pair, the Sterophile reviewer thought that was a typo, that they were $3200 each, and a bargain at that price. I also drive mine with an Adcom MOSFET or Marantz amp, they're not a difficult load for 4 Ohm happy amps, and 100 W is just fine. Honestly, I'd have to go well north of $10K per pair into Wilson-land for even incremental improvement.

Your very, very, very best value in that price range is a used set of the Linkwitz Orion system - open baffle loudspeakers, active crossover and amplification.  Typically priced at $3000 - $5000.  It's an insane value.  They image well and sound good everywhere in the room.  You don't have to cement yourself into the sweet spot to enjoy great sound.

They are especially good on voices, acoustic piano and acoustic instruments.  They have terrific power handling and can do full orchestral levels in large rooms.

Sounds like you want punchy rock speakers - but refined. JBL 1400 Arrays will do that, a used pair may just fit with your requirements.