Lots of detail, great imaging, not much bass?

Milpai, he doesn't want ton. Few kg's are enough. ;)

Bvdiman, sorry, I only sell ton. No kgs. That is low volume :-)

Oh, I forgot to mention System Audio 505s. Another tiny pair of speakers, similar in size to the Minuets. I ultimately traded those for a pair of Minuets because they were a bit picky about placement. Well, maybe not picky, since I can't consider a speaker not wanting to be on a shelf picky; but they didn't like being in an entertainment center.

If you can find some 505s used, they go for about $400.

Other than the $700 budget, the OP's requirements practically scream for the KEF LS50. Stereophile rated this a Class A (limited LF) recommended component. This is unprecedented for a $1500 (list) speaker. Basically it is a true Class A performer from around 80 Hz on up, and with the inherent dynamics limitations. But in everything the OP is looking for--clarity, detail, imaging, soundstage--the LS50 is just about state-of-the-art (according to the reviews).

As for whether it has too much bass for his room, you can't know that until you try it. The LS50 may have been too bassy for Seikosha's room but not necessarily for the OP's.

As for bloated bass in a ported speaker, that's pretty easy to attenuate--stuff a sock in it! Or, more accurately, roll up a small towel or wash cloth and put it into the port. You can attenuate the bass by how loosely or tightly you stuff the port and also by how far you place the speakers from the wall behind them.

And if you shop around, you can get a pair for close to your budget.

Read the Stereophile review. They compared the LS50 side-by-side with the Rogers LS3/5a and B&W CM5 and they exhibited more clarity than the Rogers in upper bass, less total bass extension than the CM5, but equaled or bettered both in imaging, soundstage, and midrange, especially in both male and female vocals. Reviewer John Atkinson said in part:

At the start of the review period, I was in Los Angeles producing the vocal sessions for the opera Cooperstown, composed by Positive Feedback Online contributor Sasha Matson. At the end of the review period, Sasha sent me a CD with some test mixes. Listening to our two sopranos, Julie Adams and Carin Gilfry, and comparing what I was hearing through the KEFs with my memory of what I'd heard live at Bill Schnee Studio, I would go so far as to say that the LS50 is one of the finest speakers at reproducing female voices that I have heard—for less than what you can pay for a set of high-end interconnects!

B_limo,

I'm assuming that we're talking about an apartment environment. Right? What speakers do you have now? Is size a consideration?

I don't know about the LS50s. It seems that many of the reviews and owner comments revolve around the amount of bass that the LS50s produce, which is something that the OP is trying to avoid.

I recommended the Minuets because they are small, and thus, are limited by their size in the bass department. I do, however, have to qualify this by saying that although the Minuets are small, they are not, in the least, bass shy. No, they do not go low, but they do produce what they can with pretty good authority.

Maybe your answer would be to get a pre amp with tone controls so that you can dial down the bass. Or perhaps you could check out some of NHT's offerings. Unless I'm mistaken, they offer a couple of smaller models that are of the sealed variety, although the models that I've tried didn't even come close to the quality of the music coming from the Minuets.