What the best 89-90 db speaker I can buy for 3k?

If you like the B&W house sound, new CM9s or used 805Ds are right at your $3K price point.

I picked up a clean used pair of 805Ds and they work great with classical and jazz. Not the ultimate in bass, but the bass is still surprisingly good.

Thank you one and all, many ideas I never would have thought of.

GoldenEar Triton 2 or 3. Triton 2 is $3K, but for 13x17 room the Triton 3 at $2K/pair should be plenty.

Both have the advantage of a gain-adjustable built-in powered sub in each column, making it much easier to match the speaker to the size of the room.

These are true full-range speakers with lots of dynamics, making them excellent for classical. The tweeter is clear and sweet with no ringing or overshoot, so they're great on strings, triangle, and other percussion with very high overtones. Both speakers reach into the 20's and can play loud, so they're also good choices for large scale 20th century orchestral works such as Holst, Vaughan Williams, Stravinsky, and the other Russians.

Thanks for the mention, Richardyc! Basically my game plan is to start out with good prosound drivers and then thoroughly beat them into submission. The prosound part = good dynamics & good efficiency. The beating into submission part = smoother sound than you'd normally expect from prosound drivers. I'm not the only one doing this of course, nor is this the only viable option by any means, but imo it's a contender if dynamics are high on the list of priorities.

Duke

shubert how about Zu speakers. As I recall they have a couple options in your price range that are near 100db/w