Say, today's hifi market is much different than 12 years ago. The secondary market is huge because of the internet and there are several great vendors of used equipment. That said, you can buy speakers,audition them in your home, then resale them if you don't care for them. I've ownerd several speakers over the last 1.5 years and I've lost less than $100 on any pair by resaling them on this site.
(Caution, shipping can be expensive on large speakers)
You will need to first decide if you want floorstanding or stand mounted monitor speakers. Both have benefits. Monitors generally image a bit better and provide a huge soundstage, whereas floorstander generally have a little fuller sound and generally produce more bass. You may need a subwoofer if you choose a monitor. Personally, I prefer monitors, but that's just my style. I could never even suggest that one is better than the other for your application.
So, if I had $2000 "burning a hole in my pocket" I would look for a pair of used speakers from Tyler Acoustics, Dynaudio, Silverline or possible the new Triangle Celius(new for $1995) among others. I would be patient, keep my eyes open for a good deal, then jump on them. If I listened for a couple of weeks/months and they didn't move me, I would resale them on this site and start over again. However, you may find that you love your first pair, and stop there! I've bought many great speakers for 50% of list or less and all were in excellent condition.
Have Fun,
TIC
(Caution, shipping can be expensive on large speakers)
You will need to first decide if you want floorstanding or stand mounted monitor speakers. Both have benefits. Monitors generally image a bit better and provide a huge soundstage, whereas floorstander generally have a little fuller sound and generally produce more bass. You may need a subwoofer if you choose a monitor. Personally, I prefer monitors, but that's just my style. I could never even suggest that one is better than the other for your application.
So, if I had $2000 "burning a hole in my pocket" I would look for a pair of used speakers from Tyler Acoustics, Dynaudio, Silverline or possible the new Triangle Celius(new for $1995) among others. I would be patient, keep my eyes open for a good deal, then jump on them. If I listened for a couple of weeks/months and they didn't move me, I would resale them on this site and start over again. However, you may find that you love your first pair, and stop there! I've bought many great speakers for 50% of list or less and all were in excellent condition.
Have Fun,
TIC