Lots of detail, great imaging, not much bass?

I recommend auditioning the GoldenEar Aon 2. They retail new w/warranty at $800/pair, so you can probably get them within budget, but they need stands.

They are a good match for your needs in several ways, including your driving electronics:

o Unlike most small speakers, they are fairly sensitive at 89 dB. The passive preamp shouldn't be a problem to get reasonable listening levels.
o Their recommended amplifier power is 10-200 watts, so they can absorb a lot of power from your Classe amp.

In addition, they have a fast but extremely smooth folded ribbon tweeter responsive out to 35Khz. This indicates a very fast rise time, which translates into upper treble detail that helps define images and soundstage, not to mention getting the full spectrum of overtones that define timbral accuracy. The GoldenEar tweeter is a revelation; it is so devoid of overshoot and ringing you'll realize how much of these distortions we've been trying to ignore up to now.

The bass/mid driver is likewise very fast and responsive.

The front of the speaker is small and tapered to make for better imaging. The cabinet has no parallel lines to minimize cabinet resonances. All these factors contribute to better detail and a lower noise floor.

They are capable of good bass without being gassy, and stand-mounted speakers will not leak bass to the neighbors as easily because the bass waves won't be reinforced by--and travel along--the floor so much.

Rave reviews abound for these speakers. Many are for the big brother Aon 3, but they share the same design and exact same tweeter. They are also widely distributed so you should have little trouble getting auditioning them. When you do, however, make sure the dealer hooks them up to high quality electronics; the speakers are so affordable some dealers hook them up to a mass market receiver, and when that happens, the Aons reveal the shortcomings of the receiver.

You asked in your other thread about the Totem Rainmaker. Audition them if possible; 4 ohm but easy to drive, detailed, tight bass, very impressive. About $1000 I think.

Von Schweikert VR 1

Since I just got into a couple of pairs of Minuets, I have to give a plug for the Silverlines. They have good bass, but they don't go low. Just for reference, when I run a sub for music that would benefit from it, I run my sub crossed over at 55hz, although I have been running the Minuets without the sub for the most part.

The funny thing about the Minuets is that you can spend time with placement, setting them up to sound their best; but I've also found that I've been really hard pressed to make them sound bad. They sound good no matter where I put them. Mine are sitting on shelves in an entertainment center.

I've had Paradigm Studio 10s and 20s and in my room, the Minuets sound much better. They put out a nice sound stage and have yet to hear them get edgy. I know that this is said a lot in reference to small speakers, but these really do sound a lot bigger than they really are.

For your budget, you can get a pair of Minuet Supreme Pluses brand new. You might also want to consider the ERA D4 and D5.

All the stars are aligned with your electronics for you to just pick the speakers you want, we just had a shoot out yesterday at our monthly Ason audio society meeting of a hand full of small book shelf speaker from $400 to $4.5k and the Silverline Minuets came out on top, judged by a around 25 people, all so called audiophiles. I was surprised just how full bodied they were for the size.
The sensitivity 2.1v of your Z dac is a great match for your Lightspeed Attenuator and the Classe's input impedance 75kohm and sensitivity of 1.5v so you will have an abundance of spare gain, it is also a great match for the Z dac and Lightspeed combined.

Cheers George