Jdoris gave you a pretty good road map to begin your journey. Since you are in the DC area, you really should contact Dennis Murphy who designs the Philharmonic speakers as suggested by Rsimms. Dennis is also the man behind the cross over design in the Salk speakers as recommended by Audionuts.
As far as home auditions go, both Zu and Tekton offer pretty good home audition polices. Neither can match Aperion Audio, whose speakers are way below your budget but nonetheless have received good reviews, who will allow you to return their speakers on THEIR dime so what's to lose? The best in-home audition policy I am aware of is offered by John Strohbeen of Ohm (NY) who allows a 120 day in-home trial.