what is the best sounding speakers for under 5000.

Hi Vortrex,
Curious if you've listened to the Ikonoklast 3's from William Gregoire -- he's in the Bay Area, or any of the Tonian speakers. I haven't, but the Ikonoklast has been touted as having excellent integration between the mid/bass driver (in a TL) and the Ohm Walsh-like tweeter --without any x-over.
I'm using Genesis 8300 stand-mounted, thinking of looking for newer speakers.
Harvey

1bruingas - no, never heard of those.

There some good suggestions made above, such as the Audiokinesis, so I am just suggesting some other considerations. If you are looking for a warm sound, consider the "classic" Spendor box speakers (I prefer them to the floorstanding models). If you want a leaner sound, the thin and tall floorstanding model from Synthesis (Italian brand) is great with tube electronics (hard to find and audition).

Many good choices mentioned but I am a fan of wide range Walsh drivers in the end and always end up coming back to the OHMs. Depending on room size and new versus used, these might even come in at well under budget but I like the larger 5 or 5000 models with on board level adjustments to help match the speaker to the room if those can fit nicely into the room.

How long is a ball of string?

Shakey