great little speakers

I think that Reference 3A has another small monitor beside the DeCapo that was shown recently at CES.

My favorite small speaker for many years has been the Pyramid MET-7, designed and made by Richard Sequerra, one of the audio "greats". I took them with me when I was teaching in the Far East, and really enjoyed their excellent performance in smaller rooms.

The MET-7's are extremely coherent, with a warm musical sound, and excellent imaging. Sometimes the MET-7's can be purchased used here on Audiogon, but they can be purchased new for $1200 directly from Sequerra. Here is the link to Sequerra's web site, where you can get more info about the Pyramid MET-7:
http://www.sequerra.com/electronics/data/index.html

In addition to the Sequerra MET-7, I also strongly recommend the speakers from PSB and Paradigm that are in your price range. These two Canadian manufacturers make some of the best value speakers (price-to-performance ratio) on the market.

The Penaudio Rebel 2 and Charisma fall into this category. They are based in Finland with distribution in the Netherlands and UK, as well as the Nordics. www.penaudio.fi

I second the Reference 3A de capos. Wife bought them to use with a cj cav-50 tube integrated but when the conrad johnson was being serviced I swiped them and hooked them up my Decware zen amp (about 1 1/2- 2 wpc SET). They are simply outstanding. More efficient than their specs (rated 92db) would indicate. Very clean and dynamic and not edgy at all. Great bass and just a fantastic all round speaker. No subwoofer needed.

I second the recommendation for Reference 3A. I just heard their new Dulcet at the CES2004 and was simply in awe of the musicality and coherence these little monitors possess. They seem fairly easy to drive.
Good luck.