Speaker Recommendation Needed

Vandy's are fine but if you're in KY, isn't Thiel a natural choice? Especially in a large room.

I thought about Thiel, but considering the size of the room, larger Theils would be out of her price range, even used?
I've also heard that Thiel has a clinical sound; not very warm.

I like the little Vandys too, and Thiels are certainly great imagers when you set them up right, but the speakers that the lady liked were Spica TC-60s, which are known for their extraordinary imaging. The best image I have heard from a speaker currently available was from a Triangle Titus ES, which would be too small for the room. The next model up, the Comète ES, might not be, and there are even bigger Triangles available here, still within her budget.

look into Wharfedale Diamond 9.6's they are a large fullrange speaker with a warm natural sound and also deliver clean strong bass response down to around 30hz. I have a large room also (28' by 22' by 8') these fill my room wonderfully. They also have a curved cabinet design that is solid and sleek, as well as the neat kevlar drivers. they can be had on Audiogon or ebay for around $600-650 or $1000 new. Their smaller siblings (the 9.1s) were given rave reviews on stereophile by Robert Reina. here is a small snippit

The Diamond 9.1 had two attributes that floored me:
1) Extraordinary resolution of detail in the midrange, with no trace of coloration. Low-level dynamic articulations in this region were subtle and linear, and the speaker's ability to render soundstage cues, ambience, and hall sound were what I would expect from a speaker costing $2000/pair or more.
2) A refined, delicate, and detailed presentation of high-frequency articulation, with no trace of either hardness or softness and with a perfect replication of transients.

PSB Stratus line...Gold (maybe even "i" model), Silver, or Bronze all within budget. Great value for the money!

You're in Kentucky so Tyler Acoustics would be worth a real look. Some Freedom series would be in your friends budget and maybe some Reference minis or monitors with a bit of stretching. The point being that a good quality receiver could drive these speakers effectively and they would do classical very well.
Gary