Best speaker choice under $1000?


I'm looking to audition some new speakers, either floorstanding or bookshelf. I listen to mostly pop, dance, r&b, little hip hop.

I prefer a speaker with excellent sound stage, transparency and detail. Which speakers should I consider auditioning? (They will be paired with a Marantz receiver).
bello
Yoh Grin, Yes over his New purchase budget--but I've seen them go for

$1k preowned.

Great speaker

Des
Sufentanil,

Your recommendations do make much more sense if you thought R&B and not rap. As far as PSB goes, thats just my own personal opinion and others may feel different. To be honest, I think most, if not all, of API's Products have that "boring" trait to them.

"The Vandersteens are a good choice, although the ones I've heard weren't exactly what I would call transparent and detailed.".

That statement doesn't surprise me. A lot of people have opinions similar to yours. Its due to a combination of factors. The biggest factor is setup. Most people don't set them up properly. Vandersteen gives very detailed info on room placement and back tilt. Its not optional, you have to do what the manual says in order to get best results. For example, you mention lack of detail. Set up properly, the Model 1's are the most detailed speaker out of all the speakers mentioned so far on this thread. Its not even close. But you will only get that kind of sound if you spend some time with them.