Speaker recommendation for married couple

I personally don't have a problem with dealers posting here as long as their input is objectively their opinion or experience. The dealers generally have a much broader exposure to different brands and models so it would be counterintuitive to not solicit input from folks who can contribute most, at least in theory.

My wife loved my old Martin Logan reQuests, with their full body and pleasing detail, yet not overly sibilant sound.  That is, until we put in hardwood floors at our former home.  They simply were too big for the room.  

When I bought a pair of used Von Schweikert VR-5 HSE speakers, she loved the lifelike detail, looks and smaller size.  Personally, I loved the transparency, detail and midrange much better than the reQuests, but the lack of lower end troubled me.  In all fairness, I was using a passive preamp and when I had a LampizatOr Amber DAC with boosted gain, I felt that lower end jump a bit.  However, when I upgraded to the LampizatOr Lite 7 DAC, the lower end was problematic until I purchased a Hsu Research ULS-15 Mk II subwoofer.  Problem solved!  In our room, it really shines on all sorts of music.  From what I recently saw, there is a pair for sale right now.  

Cheers,


Juan 

again I will 

Again I will say Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grands. Why???? Because they are in the same family sound wise as SF. They cost a whole lot less used generally than SF. IMO you pay for the finish and looks for SF speakers big time. 

The Mozart Grands also have deep bass for a small floor standers. They are able to completely disappear. They are also 4ohm so a 70 watt amp that doubles is plenty enough power so you don't need to go crazy. They are in you price range used. The finish is better than most speakers in the price range. 

If looks are not an issue (not that they really look bad just not a show stopper) I would go also look at Golden Ear speakers. The ribbon tweeter are very musical and never sharp. Plus you get more bass than you would expect because of powered subs in the speakers. Also you can adjust the bass level allowing you to tone down bass in a smaller room. 

Take a look at standmount or floor standing from:
Ryan speakers, good value with Sonus Faber like qualities
Sonus Faber Venere or Olympica series very musical
Focal Sopra series great balance and resolution
B&W 800 series - either love or hate?
Audio Physic good at everything easy on the eye
Magnapan great at lower volume tough looks
KEF R LS, R series and Reference all great
You didn't mention budget?
Or what electronics you will use?