Changes in my life, new system, need new speakers

@tweak1 it didn't quite work out for me with Underwood but others seem to have more luck... 

very high restocking fees

All the speakers mentioned are quality and probably sound great, but you mentioned your new family room is "very very small." I think it's best you attack this problem by focusing on what kind of placement and layout you can manage in your room.

A couple of placement friendly options:

1. Ohm walsh tall 1000 ($2700) - Great in corners

2. Focal Dome Flax/stands ($2000) - Very curious about these myself

Most people in small/multi-use spaces are better off buying speakers they can place properly. The great thing about mini monitors on stands is you can easily pick them up and bring them a few feet into the room for serious listening. Add in a sub or two (also properly placed) that have time alignment dsp, and it will always sound better than $$$ speakers poorly set up.

As someone mentioned, the DIY route (probably in flatpack kit form is best for you) will net you WAY better drivers and crossover components than is practical for a commercial brand to offer because of the cost! I won’t suggest my DIY speakers because they are way outside your budget and must be built from scratch. I would suggest you check out CSS 1TDX. Jay’s Iagi reviewed them (YouTube) and he liked them better than his SF Electa bookshelf’s!

I have a pair of Ohm 1000s and really like them. Ohm also has a 120 home trial period with a full refund (though you'd be out shipping.)  The other speakers I use in a small room off my bedroom are Spendor 4/5s. These are Spendor's current incarnation of the BBC LS 3/5a, but with better bass, dynamics and treble, but no loss of the incredible midrange vocal qualities for which they are famous.  List is just over your $2.5K budget, but I found a one year old used pair for $1K off that.

A bookshelf on a stand takes up just as much space as a small-ish floorstanding speaker. Since you are already familiar with Monitor Audio, you might consider the Silver 300 7G for about the same money as the Gold 100s. I did, and bought a pair of the S 300 7Gs to replace my LS-50s. Loved the LS-50s, but they are a small-room nearfield monitor, and simply didn't give me the soundstage dimension I wanted. Since my room/SAF won't accommodate Magnepans (I have a set of LRS for fun in another room), I decided on a dual 6" 3-way that could be located within 18" of the rear wall. The S 300 7Gs are designed to do exactly that, and the dual rear ports can be tuned by plugging on or both. In my room, plugging the bottom port killed the tubbiness on voices that usually occurs when speakers are too close  to the back wall. The mids and highs are extremely clean, and the bass reaches the low 40s at any level I care to listen. I am very pleased as well with the sound-staging  and imaging on a variety of material. They may not be a 'forever' speaker, but they are a lot close than I would expect for $2500.