Best floorstanding speakers under $2000

Tpreaves, "the answers will always be what folks think is "best" to them in their system."

Not true. I can rattle off plenty of components I don't own, but would nominate for various "best" questions. Of course, the natural rebuttal would be, "Then why don't you own them?" Various reasons, really - cost, size, doesn't fit into my room, system synergy, etc.

I understand where you are coming from, and the intent of putting some perspective into the word, best. However, at this point, the incessant attempts to throw a wet blanket on every such conversation really does take far more away than it adds to this discussion forum.

The nature of any such hobby shows most of the hardcore transcended the objectivist paradigm. As such, most of us understand AND appreciate that the discussions that take place on this site are subjective. Yes, it's purely one's opinion. And, I for one, happen to love that.

Perhaps, I am the only one who feels this way. So be it, and as I like to say, that's why they make vanilla AND chocolate. Regardless, I feel the need to put forth my feelings on this subject. And in so doing, encourage people to be more, and not less, open and forthcoming with their opinions, perspectives, and overall high-end audio experience.

There are some great values on Aerial speakers in recent months. I have owned the 8 and the 6, currently own the 7b, all recently available in your price range. Fully agree with Trelja. With so much equipment out there and so few stores to go listen at, it helps to have a good place to start, and these discusiions can/could be fun. People are looking for information and suggestions, not to be told what to buy.

Agree w/ Tpreaves, and you really haven't given any indication of what type of sound characteristics you're looking for other than bass extension. At the very least it would be helpful to know what it is you're looking to improve over the M60s (other than bass of course). The other thing is that there probably aren't that many speakers that go that low AND DO IT WELL in this price range. Or, put another way, you run the danger of getting quantity of bass but not necessarily quality.

OK, all that said, off the top of my head I'd recommend stretching a bit and looking at something like a used Silverline Sonata or Revel Performa F52 (either of which would be a huge upgrade to your M60s assuming they sound good to you).

The other way to go that would open a world of possibilities and probably give you even better bass performance is to look for a good pair of used monitors for about $1000 and a pair of good, used subs. I was thinking along the lines of Revel, Dynaudio, etc. but there are a whole host of choices for good monitors in that price range from a wide array of quality manufacturers. Point is the more choice you have the more likely you are to truly find "the best" speaker for you rather than potentially having to accept less optimal qualities (again, for your tastes) in other performance areas just to get the bass you're looking for. Then you can add excellent bass capabilities to the monitors of your choice by adding the subs (you can use products from companies like SVS or Velodyne to help with integrating the subs with the monitors and your room).

Anyway, I've gone on too long but just wanted to pass along those thoughts. Best of luck in your search.

OP, when you say "best" do you mean in absolute terms? or just in my opinion? I always thought Klipsch was a brand that tended to appeal to those who primarily listen to rock (i.e., loud with minimal compression).

The very best floor-standing speaker, without a doubt, by any standard, is a used Merlin VSM - which is not often thought of as a rock speaker, but I think does rock quite well, even though it only goes down to 30hz or so - how much rock music actually has deep bass in the recording? Unless you are listening to electronic, I'm not the deepest bass is an essential part of typical rock recordings. Aerial speakers are also the best.

You would probably get more improvement by treating the room instead of new speakers.