help narrowing down my list of speakers, $2500

Jamie if you haven't already done so you might want to go to eCoustics.com. Do a keyword search and you will find many, many professional reviews of the speakers on your list.

Also you might want to check out audioreviews.com. These are reviews from actual owners of the speakers.

Two speakers you can scratch off your list are the Avante Garde RX20 and Tyler Reference II's. I've checked into both and they are great speakers but are simply not going to work well in a small room. The other Tyler you mentioned the 7U may be a good possiblilty though, being a slim floorstander thats front ported.

Suprised the Vandersteens are still on your list of rockers. They have a rep of being very laid back and a touch sedate.

None the less do some more research to narrow down the list to no more then 3 or 4. Then come back and you could probably get the input you need to find the one your looking for.

Best Wishes Maxx

Hmmm, I heard vandys can rock, thats why I kept them. And the Avante Garde, people use that in a small room all the time with great results from what I hear. But I will scratch off that Tyler Refrence II.

By the way, thank you Maxxc, youve been the most helpful person in my research so far. :)

Hey Jamiec001,

No, don't scratch the JMRs, just the Offrands. The Trentes are the speakers to audition from there line, for your needs. I would also scratch the Silverline Sonata II, more for Jazz and small scale classical. The VR-4 Jrs, I think, are a bit to big for your space. The same for the PMC OB-1s, although I've never heard them, I've done a lot of research on them and they are supposed to be capable of very high output, but need space to breathe. I hope this helps......John

I agree, and I am voting for Maxxc as class president. In fact, if Maxxc is available for the next four years, I'm writing him in on the national ballot.

All kidding aside:
Based on your list, if you are going with floorstanders (my preference), I would spend all of $1300-1500 for a pair of Soliloquy 6.3's. I was a professional musician for over ten years, and my experience with the Soliloquy line is that they sound like the amp that feeds them. And they are the most non-fatiguing speaker I have heard. Finally, every person who ever heard them in my system--no matter what speakers they favored--said one word about the Soliloquy's: natural. I have the Silverline Sonata II, and absolutely love them, but they could potentially overpower your room. For $1300-1500, you're set. Spend the rest of your money on romantic CD's and dinners for the girl who melts at the sound of Metallica on your stereo.

All of the other speakers mentioned are superb, but I personally think they will require additional effort to obtain the best amp/speaker synergy, and some of them (as Maxxc mentioned) will not serve your intended purpose.

If you are going with monitors + sub, I think others here would have more useful feedback than I would.

Unless you want to spend a lot of time 'figuring this out', that's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

All the best,
Howard