Sealed Monitor Speakers

There is a body of opinion out there that many vintage sealed designs are superior to modern day speakers. If you're willing to broaden your scope, you could grab a bargain classic for much less than the numbers bandied about above.
Look for Spica TC-50 of TC-50i and Ensemble Reference. These need stands and if the lowest 2 octaves (20-80 hz) are of importance to you, a sub will be necessary.

Hi Worldwide,

Check out the NSM loudspeakers, all acoustic suspension designs and within your budget.

You can't really go wrong with the ATCs. Just make sure you have lots of juice (min 100W) on tap, well so the theory goes, cos my dealer actually uses tubes to power the SCM35s. And why are you going for the SCM7s when you can go for the 11s? I am sure your dealer can give you some discounts if you pay cash and especially likely in the view of the current economy.

Also, sealed speakers tend to be fairly inefficient. 87db is usually common.

Here is another vote for the GR Research Neo 2x. They are available in kit form, but there are those whole will build them for you on Danny's forum on Audiocircle. The cabinets are available fully built from Parts Express.

I had a pair built for me and they are really, really good. Substantially more transparent, open, and clean sounding than the $3000 Dynaudio S1.4s that I had before (still great speakers). Brand new, built for me, all upgrades (cardas posts, upgraded caps, etc) cost me a little over a grand. Where they lose (in a major way) is the under 60hz response, and bass dynamics.

I disagree however with Trianglezerius on the sub issue. These are subwoofer required (as are most, if not all, other sealed monitors). With a good sub (ie. GR Research server sub, can be had for around $700) then they are unbeatable.