looking for speakers under 3K new or used,,,help

I have been out of the audio arena for some time and have reaquired the adiction. Back in the day I had Merlin signature 4's, Hales system 2's, b&w matrix 802's and magnepan's. My eletronics are a levinson 23, audio research LS3, Krell KAV250cd. Due to the economey all the high end stores in my area have closed or carry nothing but A/V junk. The merlins I had were great in the mids and bottom end, but were a little rolled off in the top, the B&W's were very dry in the mids for me, the maggies had a great presance but just did not do well with all types of music and my friend has the 1.6's and this still has not changed in my opinion, the Hales I had were my top speaker I owned I loved the detail but they could tend to be a tad bright and they are out of business. I have looked at the Merlin VSM's and they get great reviews but was hoping for some other sugestions based on the tastes I have discribed above.
HELP SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND CAN'T GO LISTEN TO THIS STUFF IN PERSON