Exemplary active nearfield speakers under $1k?

Here is another recommendation for the Emotiva AirMotiv speakers. They are active speakers, having their own built-in amps. The AirMotiv 5s are $449/pr. and the AirMotiv 6s are $699/pr.

The main difference between the two models is in the woofer size, 5.25 in. vs. 6.5 in. The 5s go down to about 53 Hz and the 6s are good down to about 43 Hz. Both have the Heil-inspired folded ribbon air motion tweeter (AMT) which is a very good tweeter indeed.

Emotiva offer a 30 day in-home trial, so you might want to go ahead and order a pair and see how they sound in your home. Because they are self-powered (and bi-amplified!), you could conceivably put together a very satisfying system with the AirMotivs and something like an Oppo BDP-103 ($499) universal player. And/or, connect them to a decent sound card in a PC.

For right around $1,000 - $1200 you could put together a very credible, musical sound system that would satisfy 'most anyone...

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/speakers/products/airmotiv6

-RW-

Of course if you can stretch your budget look at AVI. Remote control volume and built in DAC.

Consider Focal CMS 40. Well priced accept RCA input, which not all professional monitors do. I have the CMS 50s which are great for a desktop.