Best speakers for $3000

Paraneer, actually he mentions what kind of amp he has in the first post, and at least some of us are familiar with its capabilities.  

I'd suggest demoing the Totem's carefully, they have a unique house sound.

Thanks for the advice I'm going to listen to them after Christmas I'm also interested in the sonus faber veneer 

The Zu line IMHO has a very distinct house sound that is more system dependent (or perhaps room dependent?) than most others. I've heard them sound great & terrible and everything in between.
The Zu guys seem so cool and there funky colorful designs are unique in many ways, but I'd tread carefully before buying. A demo with your own gear is even more recommended than it usually is. Cheers,
Spencer

Agree with sbank and would add Vandersteen to the list of extra careful audition due to placement, set up, and electronics issues...

Trevill,

i found the the suggestion to buy Klipsch or Cerwin Vega to be really funny. I wonder if he was just being sarcastic when he made those recommendations. I liked the way you said those speakers are for punks.