Best Small Floorstanding Speaker under $2K

Salk Songtower - stupid good for the money

Used Totem Forrest -- small foot-print speaker with HUGE soundstage.

I've been running Totem Forests for years.  Czarivey is right, they throw a wide soundstage and also image very well.  Seems to me mine sound best with higher power solid state than with with tubes but that's not to say the sound is bad with tubes.  Not important to you, maybe, but the Forests do bass very well.  

A little narrower and taller than the Forests:  Silverline Prelude Plus.  Under $2K new.  See Underwood HiFi.  These are more sensitive than the Forests and, for me, work very well with tubes.  They too throw a wide soundstage with remarkable imaging.  They do not do bass as well as the Forests...but, given on your listening preferences, this might not even be an issue.   

Good luck in your search.

 

Couple pairs of Soliloquy 5.3s for sale here now.  Small footprint, attractive, great imaging, and enough bass that you won't miss a sub.  And they're under $900/pr.  Best of luck.

As a Vandy owner, I think they are one of the best buys in hifi. But, to get a smaller footprint than the Zu’s, you are probably looking at the Vandy 1’s, or VSM. Both of which are going to need a sub.
The Zu Omen are pretty small for a floorstanding speaker and will give you pretty much what you are asking for- Bass but not floor shaking bass.
After looking at some of the previous suggestions, I don’t see any that are significantly smaller than the Zu’s. If you buy new, you can trial them for 30 days, too.
I own the Zu Union(an Omen predecessor) and can attest to their sound quality. When you tune the speakers properly, you can achieve some very impressive bass.