Rrolack, shoot Bob Gross from Speaker Art an email to inquire about his new ribbon Super Clef's. They are amazing from first hand experience. I own a set of the standard Super Clef's(Scanspeak soft dome) and they are wonderful as well.
Bob also uses high (4th & 7th order) slopes in his networks but is the only builder to employ Kaminsky series networks. All the Clef series speakers use an 8" woofer made to his specifications by, I believe, Eminence.
The price point is well under your budget but these speakers tend to "punch well above their weight".
I've had great results driving them with a variety of amps as well. My limited experience has been with a vintage Mitsubishi DA-15DC, Jolida JD 302CRC, & Wyred 4 Sound 500W monoblocks. All three offered astonishing performance with different "personalities".
Bob also uses high (4th & 7th order) slopes in his networks but is the only builder to employ Kaminsky series networks. All the Clef series speakers use an 8" woofer made to his specifications by, I believe, Eminence.
The price point is well under your budget but these speakers tend to "punch well above their weight".
I've had great results driving them with a variety of amps as well. My limited experience has been with a vintage Mitsubishi DA-15DC, Jolida JD 302CRC, & Wyred 4 Sound 500W monoblocks. All three offered astonishing performance with different "personalities".