Best speakers under $500? Fire away!

Most of the standmount speakers have relatively low sensitivity but are more easy to drive than floor standing speakers with higher sensitivity .

Really?  Even a speaker that is 4 ohms with sensitivity of 85dB like the Elacs that keep getting recommended with no concern over the OP's limited amp capabilities.

Please explain.

the Primus 363 is both high sensitivity and easy to drive

jl35... I would very much like to try the Infinity's and have read nothing but rave reviews.  The problem is I can't find them?  Can anyone help?
Also read great things about the Tannoy Eclipse 3 but again... tough to find.

I own a set of the B&W 685s. I have been driveing them with the NAD 326BEE. Recently purchased the 356BEE to provide a little more power. Do not believe the 3020 is a good match for them.

I  have a pair of Infinity primus 363’s that I use for two channel and multi channel, I will say that for the price the p 363’s are a darn good speaker, I recently bought a pair of wharfedale Diamond 220’s online, the 220’s are pretty good but they DO NOT compare to the Infinity p 363 in my A and B test, that said... I returned the wharfedales, the p 363 sound really nice with a small tube amp.
Another good sounding speaker is the revel f12, I bought a pair used a few years back for $600, these sound even better than the p 363 if you can find a pair used.