Speakers after GMA Europas

Daimbert based upon your latest updates, I think you might be very happy with Vandersteens coupled with McCormack amplification. That combination should satify your sound quest, room and budget. Best of luck.

I have been very happy with Merlins. Keep your eyes open for a used set around $1500.00. The Green Mtn. magic described here can be had with Merlins too. You will have $1000 left to spend on a good amp as well. I too love the Green Mountain sound, however I found the Merlins to be perfect for my needs. Merlin is a great company too.

Good luck in your search.

The GMA Rio's are a step up from Europas. The EOS an even bigger step. Both will give you everything you like about the Europas, and more. A sub can blend easily with these designs for extended low end response. These models come up occasionally on Audiogon and retailers (like me) often have demo pairs. In my experience, most people who respond favorably to GMA's are not happy elsewhere. My theory is some folks are more sensitive to anomalies in time and phase coherence (which, by design, GMA's address more fully than just about anything else). Just one POV.
Note: I sell GMA's, Departure Audio.

I agree with Joc3021. Pick up a used pair of GMA EOS.

Daimbert - I have compared Devores with GMAs and to my ears the GMAs are a much more satisfying speaker if you're looking for transparency to the source, pinpoint imaging, 3-D sound stage, neutral response, dynamics and non-fatiguing sound. It's tough to match the results of the GMA's phase-coherent drivers and extremely high-quality crossovers, I think. The Devores, though, are probably just about as good in their own way when it comes to "musicality" and conveying emotion - they've got more of a "high-efficiency" sound to my ears, and they do have the advantage of being more efficient if you're dealing with very low-powered amps.

That said, you do have a pretty big room, so if you went with the Europas, pairing them with a sub would probably be a must. I think the recs for Vandys and Merlins also make sense, based on your room size.