What's your picks

the two main options in this price range are to go with an entry model of a boutique brand or the middle of the road model of a commercial brand, and mostly I mean used.

such as

boutique | mainstream

Fritz          Dynaudio

Spatial      Klipsch

Totem        Revel

Buchardt   Polk

Nola          Wharfedale

etc....

I had a pair of Magnepan 1.7i in a room that size an the sound was exceptional. You should be able to find a used pair in that range. Hopefully you have the space to properly set them up. I have since moved up to the 3.7i in the same room.

@johnto , my speakers have to be close to the front wall and 1 corner wall due to the floor plan and walkways/ doors. Great suggestion though. I'm so tempted to get those Salk and try to make them work, but I think I really need to resist forcing a speaker into my room when a lower quality one might give better overall sound simply because it fits the space better. I really need to remind myself that bigger doesn't necessarily equal better in this situation.

@mesch I am using a Yamaha integrated, but have been considering keeping my current Acoustic Energy towers while I upgrade to either a pass labs integrated, anthem str integrated (does this have arc?), or maybe a benchmark ahb2 with a dac 3hcg as a dac & preamp combo to do better justice to better speakers. I saw a mcintosh for sale, but I'm not sure about that. I'm quite indecisive and overwhelmed so I keep trying to squirrel monet away for "someday".

@grislybutter I like your chart as I own 2 of the 5 boutique speakers (Nola and Spatial). Plus I've listened to and like the Buchardt and Totem speakers. I haven't seen or heard Fritz speakers.