Advice from apartment dwellers

I assume since one pays a premium price for NYC real estate that there are space restraints...that being said...a bookself or small floorstander can yield good results...the real issue is volume and that depends on your taste and your neighbors...if you can live without piper organ bass...I don't see any real issues...also invest in some headphones...for late night sessions...

We just crank it. Screw the neighbors.

Unless you're in an old unrenovated Brownstone, the bulk of the large NYC apartment buildings actually have good sound attenuation between apartments. That is good. As far as having limited floorspace (so no loudspeakers 7 feet into the room,etc)...i had great experience with SF and Celestion monitors plus single sub. SF Extrema would not cost much money these days (second hand) and would mate well with a great REL or Velodyne DD+ series...totally full range, powerful, but relatively apartment friendly compared to a lot of full-range mega speakers.

"11-22-14: Whitecap
We just crank it. Screw the neighbors."

In NYC he'll be taken into custody for trying to commit suicide.

Thanks again all for the thoughtful responses. Whitecap, I'd rather invest in audio equipment than a firearm, so regrettably I will have to forego your suggestion. Melbguy, thanks for the tip on the Pulsars...and Lloydelee, I will look into the Extremas as well. Starting to get a better idea of how to focus now - thanks again all for your input.