"Best" speakers new/used under $3,000?

Is a 20' by 16' room considered small or large?

My room is 20' by 16' and nearly empty, I'm a bachelor :) It's connected to a dining room of the same size through a 10' by 7' opening. It has a VERY nice sound...I think of it as a component. The floors are wood, it's sparse (nothing between the stereo/speakers and couch but a cofee table) and two high circular corner fishtanks on the listening end cut off the sharp corners there.

I only mention the room because a couple people asked...what is the room like. I'll be looking for speakers which have nice reviews, the Merlins by far had the most support. It will be hard to audition used gear, so I may have to take a leap of faith, but at least I have an idea of what's on the other side.

Medium. A great space for the Merlin VSMs. Another wonderful speaker are the Harbeth HL5s. I'm in Baltimore if you want to audition the Merlins. If you look at the Audioreview site, I think you might get the idea that a lot of people really love them - might have the higest rating of any speaker and well over 100 reviews.

For what it's worth, Sloane27, I've owned Ohms (Micro Walsh Talls and then 100's) and currently have the Merlin TSM-mmi.

If your room is very lively (which it sounds like it might be) then I'm not so sure Ohm is your best choice. Much as I loved much of what mine did while I had them (great bass slam, expansive sound field) in my similarly sized room with hardwood floors, the pseudo-omni aspect didn't work all that well for me -- imaging always felt confused and highs were muddled.

I've been very happy with my TSM's, and even more so since having put a thick area rug down on the floor to tame some of the HF bouncing around the room.

YMMV, of course!

Hope this helps.

That's what I would call a medium room size, and very nice with Merlins. I have found that 60 watts in plenty in a room like that.

There's a mint pair of Harbeth Compact 7ES-3's for $3200 obo on Agon right now if you're thinking about monitors. Some Harbeth owners prefer these over the Super HL5, some don't. There's not a lot of speakers out there that professional reviewers like better than these.