Best "small footprint" speaker between $600-1000

I have owned the VSA VR-1s and the Green Mountain Audio Europa and I agree those are excellent choices and are great buys, especially on the used market. I also own Mark and Daniel monitors and you should be able to pick these up on the used market for under a grand. These sound like large speakers(good weight, bass, and depth), but you need an amp with at least 100 watts and high current for these. I have also heard the Monitor Audio RS 6s, another great choice but you want to make sure you have warmer electronics and cabling with these. Good Luck

ohm micro walsh

Used Meadowlark Kestral Hot Rods?

I'll second the Ohm Micro Walsh.

Although I think you're wrong about the Preludes (I use 'em, and they sound steller due to my careful setup of brilliantly matched ancillary component choices stemming from years of personal wonderfulness), I recently spent some time with a pair of Thiel 1.6s that were small, inexpensive when bought used, and sweet sounding.