Best speakers for max. $3000?

New, I would get Vandersteen 2Ce Sig II. Those are one of the biggest bargains in high end audio. But those Thiels will be even better overall, especially if you upgrade the crossover components. Tom Thiel is working on an upgrade kit.

My vote for the Maggie 1.7i with a REL sub of some kind. They serve me amazing. Auditioned Focal, PSB, GoldenEar and  KEF in the range and walked away with the Maggie's. ALMOST walked away with the Vandersteens though, so second on those as well.

this is a no brainer.    $1000 sub + $2000 full range mains like REVEL F206s (or other top quality full range speakers), you can easily find a $4000 combo for under $3k.  This combo will be fantastic for the money

Your best value will always be a good DIY design.  It's not even close.  No commercial loudspeaker can ever come close to what you can build yourself.   There are any number of truly excellent designs out there.  And if you don't have the ability to fabricate your own enclosures, any competent cabinet maker can knock them out for you for a shockingly small amount of money.   

The Linkwitz LXmini design dramatically outperforms any commercial loudspeaker under $3k.  You can build it, WITH amplification, for about $1100.  That's what I did last year for a buddy of mine.   If you can push your budget to about $4k, you could build the flagship Linkwitz LX521 system and have sound that compares to commercial systems in the $50,000+ category.

There are any number of excellent designs at madisound.com as well.

Absolutely LOVE my Tekton Double impact monitors, depending on the size of your room you could get the full size Double Impacts and reach the sky. The word "monitors" is not a very good description as they are quite large and more than fill my 14x30 listening space, just ask my neighbors! 60day money back guarantee too.