I need advice on a good value for speakers

Do you have a dealer nearby? It's the first place you should walk into before any internet based purchases take place. Share your thoughts here as well as price. Will be great if dealer has used equipment that will allow you to take higher performance level speaker for less money. Usually when you walk onto the dealer's door with goal to spend $1000 for speakers you may end up spending 2...3x more... So post here before making decision(as an advise) and share and Goners will help you with the right one possibly for less money.

Dali Ikon 6, Vienna Bach Grand, Era 4 with Era 8 sub.

Check out Vandersteen speakers at your price limit. They all are good value for the sound they produce

++Marakenetz. And if you find certain brands you like then check here on AudiogoN (and maybe other sites...) and with a little luck you can find speakers that retail ~$2K but now sell in your budget. I will freely admit I haven't bought "new" speakers at retail in quite a while - but I've found stuff here that I really like, that were much more affordable than new, and were graciously broken in by someone else...

Great advice guys. Have him go audition stuff at a dealer's place, then turn around and buy here.

Wonder why independant dealers are going the way of the dinosaur?

For the record, I'm not a dealer. Have no financial interest in what anyone buys. I just think its absurd to have a dealer do a demo, explain what's what, then have someone turn around and buy the same stuff at a discount on the web.