The best speaker for a small room...at any price point.

Pulsars, but look at the Usher lineup. Oh, Living Voice too.

Quads are a great idea! The speakers serviced by Kent in KC are supposed to be great. A friend is using stacked quads like this and he has had everything (even IRS)  original Apogees, Dali Megaline etc. He uses the Spec Gear from Japan and loves them (see Jeff Day’s Blog) with his Quads.
Where are you in Southern California?

Wilson Duet is my easy first choice 

Ryan s610's.  Heard them at a show - amazing.

I have a room about the same size as you do and the Legacy Audio Studio HD's work GREAT....I actually have compared the Legacy to KEF and the Paradigm bookshelf speakers and found the Legacy performed much better. The Legacy are some what heavier (about 32LBS ea) then most other bookshelf speakers that I have looked at. Frequency range is listed at 41-30k, with 91 db. This is a 4 Ohm speaker which can be order in multiple high grade finishes and it won't " break the bank " while doing so.