What’s hot in monitors from $2K to $3K in 2012?

Hi Blindjim - Elescher beat me to it. The Evolution Acoustics micros. I've heard them twice. Both times, they were remarkably good... extremely resolving without being fatiguing, excellent harmonic accuracy, surprisingly good dynamics, and razor sharp imaging.

They're $2500.

They are supposed to start shipping in about a month, but they've had lots of production delays, so who knows.

Bryon

I think your asking for alot of things at that price point for new speakers or even used.
I really enjoy a subwoofer for movies. If you can add one it would open up alot of opportunities.
You have a very powerful amp, why do you need speakers that are 90db sensitive? If you had a 20 or 30 watt amp then I could understand the need for 90 db speakers.(150 watts should power nearly any speakers to concert levels)
I run Vapor Audio Breeze speakers which are 86.5db with an 85 watt amp. The Breeze are fantastic monitors and will provide you with all of your listening preferences, but they only go down to 50hz.
Add a subwoofer and you are golden. My room is bigger than yours and I feel no need for a subwoofer for music. The bass I am getting has great tune, and is lightening fast.
If you won't add a subwoofer and you are looking for much deeper base, I would take good look at the Volent VL2. There is a pair listed on here for 3 grand asking price.
These are 88db and have received fantastic reviews. Check out the 6moons review.
Todd

The PSB Synchrony Two Tower is practically tailor-made to your parameters other than that it is floorstanding. However, it is a small tower which would disappear into your music room--7.6"x11" footprint and only 39" tall. That's a smaller footprint and overall space intrusion than just about any stand-mounted speaker up to the task. The Synchrony Two sensitivity is rated at 88dB anechoic, 90 dB with room gain, and a claimed -1.5 dB at 36 Hz and a lower cutoff of 29 Hz.

List price is $3500/pair, but Crutchfield has them on sale at $2798/pair with free shipping.

Although this is not an exotic solution like the boutique models previously mentioned, PSB has the advantage of vertical integration (they make their own drivers) and economy of scale to deliver high value at a lower cost. PSBs are characteristically clean, linear, and dynamic with a particularly natural and transparent-sounding midrange.

PSB has a lot of respect in the high end press and among high end vendors. My local PSB dealer also features Wilson, D'Agostino, Magnepan, Vienna, Audio Research, Ayre, and Transparent.

Rave reviews abound for this speaker, including TAS, which designated it the best PSB speaker they'd reviewed to date.

Show me anyone who has a 2-way or 3-way monitor in your price range that can go down flat to 35hz and I'll show you a liar!

I think you should be realistic about the bass capabilities here of floorstanders, too. Unless it's got a transmission line cabinet and at least dual 12" woofers, 35hz is just not going to happen!

06-12-12: Loftarasa
Show me anyone who has a 2-way or 3-way monitor in your price range that can go down flat to 35hz and I'll show you a liar!

I think you should be realistic about the bass capabilities here of floorstanders, too. Unless it's got a transmission line cabinet and at least dual 12" woofers, 35hz is just not going to happen!

I agree with just about everything you say. The OP's original requirements are unnecessarily restrictive and nearly unrealistic. A small floorstander with the proper backwave management and room boundary reinforcement could get him where he needs to be.

And although 12" woofers can slam out a lot of bass (in an appropriately large (say 9 cu. ft.) cabinet, there are plenty of speakers that make it flat to 26 Hz or lower with a pair of 8" woofers. Two examples are the Wilson Sasha W/P and the Mirage OM-28. My 1996 Mirage M5si's are dead flat to 29 Hz with a pair of 6.5" woofers.

+1 for the transmission line, but the Atlantic Technology AT-1 makes it past 35 Hz with a pair of uniquely loaded 5.25" woofers in a D'Appolito array.