I recently came across a pair of real gems. They are the Aural Ersatz TAD-803 speakers from Bizzy Bee Audio, with Paul G's "single-driver, no-load tweeter mod." Actually I got them as part of the TAD-60 amplifier deal and had intended to sell them without even trying them, but that would have been a big mistake. These little guys sound amazingly good. The don't have quite the low end extension of large speakers, but the bass that is there is surprisingly articulate and tonally right. And through the midrange and highs they are very detailed, coherent, and natural sounding. They don't suffer from the usual crossover-related distortions/constrictions of multi-way systems, and that's where these Aural Ersatz TAD-803 speakers have a big advantage. There really is no crossover like no crossover. Plus, on many 2-way monitors, the designers set the crossover between 2 and 3kHz, which is in a sensitive part of the human range of hearing.
The TAD-803s look a lot like B&W 805s, and as crazy as it seems they can probably go head to head with the B&Ws and probably best them in a few areas. Sensitivity is 90 dB for these attractive 8-ohm monitors. Here's a link to more info and pictures. http://www.2baudio.com
They don't sound small, and they don't sound artificially large either. When set up properly they throw a huge detailed soundstage that extends way outside the speaker's boundaries.
Paul at Bizzy Bee Audio sometimes runs fantastic specials on these speakers so if you keep checking his website you can sometimes get quite a bargain. List price is $1499 and they look and sound like they're well worth it. The simple truth is that I like the speakers so much, that now I'd sooner sell the amp and keep the speakers. (But I'll probably keep both for a while.)
