what speakers to buy

I can't be 100% sure but I think Kevin of VAC has Focal Grand Utopia for his work and personal use. This is a strong endorsement.
Yes, of course I was thinking close to the OP's upper price limit. I was in fact a little surprised that you could get such a high level of performance for reasonable money. Would I get them myself if I wanted to upgrade and could afford them? I would strongly consider them, but I would also have to get tube electronics including phono, so it would in fact be an almost complete system rebuilding except for the table/arm and couple of cables.

I read one of your responses and felt I needed to respond when I saw Pantera and Priest among your preferences, as they are two of my all time favorites. I have a stupid collection of speakers and gear which has gotten a bit out of hand.... and I listen to everything from Metal to Classical, jazz, funk and whatever else I can sink my teeth into-often all in the same day as my rig is my office. 
For the lsat year My go to speakers have been b&w cdm 9's for good music but I never beat on them- I crank tunes with JBL L100t3s and some old 4311's- Speaking of the mighty Priest, I cooked the tweeters in some giant Klipsch KLF30s which absolutely rocked (albeit with a bit of "horn tweeter fatigue) while wailing heading out to the highway- 
recently I scored an entire Revell set up of original Gems and M20's?? Not sure- either way, I've got to say that the Revel Gems have been running daily for about 2 months and playing everything I can spin on Tidal- They really do sound good. last night began with Yo Yo Ma and ended with Ice T's Body Count covering Slayer. The revels are solid, very good sounding speakers but as a rock roll man, I'm always looking for more bottom end so I'm considering a JL sub to replace my older Paradignm 10". I think the Revel stuff will take the abuse better than the B&Ws. and the revels have been noted in many hifi pubs for their ability to handle a lot but I also think a sweet set up would be maybe some used 805 2 ways but a sub would be mandatory - Ideally I'm working  towards Having 2 killer systems- one for real listing, and one for really kicking ass.
i certainly have enough gear- just not enough time to make it happen

Wow. When shadorne becomes inflamed about you pushing brands, you know you have violated all objectivity.

Dave

Hi Dave. I'm certain you already know I truly enjoy your witticism. What you may not know is that I do at times follow the advice of others on the forum. And while I certainly could have engaged shadorne in some spirited back-and-forth, in this case, I'll simply "play in another sandbox". 

Try to find a dealer for the PMC brand, you will be pleasantly surprised.

@dlcockrum

Dave did you read this thread at all?

Post number 1 below the OP thread starter has a link to a used Focal Utopia for sale.

I chimed in that this was an excellent suggestion and an opportunity worth taking immediately.

Gdhal ignored this twice in an attempt to dismiss Focal as a viable choice even when Cycles2 pointed things out.

Sorry but I think some push back against Tekton is sadly becoming necessary on Audiogon - not because Tekton isn’t a great speaker but because it isn’t the the ONLY great speaker. I suspect I am not the only one tired of this....