Best speaker for $1500???, Have Cary SLI-80

I am curious as to why you Shearwaters have no top end. There might be some other issue that could save you a lot of money and a big hassle. My Shearwaters are not the hot rod version and I look for ways to tame the top end.

You need to consider Europas, for $600 used it's hard to go wrong. They outperformed Totem Forests (a very nice speaker) in my system during an A/B test. An in home trial is they only way to surely know.

If you are going for new speakers, the best that I have heard under $1,500 are the Totem Arros and the NHT ST-4's, and both of these are more like $1,000. The ST-4's are an amazing speaker for the money, and the Arros are also noteworthy for their big sound from such a small cab.

In the used market, I think that you can score some Thiels or ProAcs for that price. The ProAcs would probably match up better with your Cary.

JM Lab Cobalt 826. Excellent little speaker with surprising efficiency and low end and a very refined top end. Good luck! Arthur

Merlin TSM-ME used would run you about $1500. Superb with tubes. Good luck!