Small room Speaker suggestions

My room is larger than yours, but I don't have the space to pull the speakers way out into the room for imaging, so I built a pair of North Creek Eska towers. Right now I have the rears 6" away from the wall, and I've been playing around with positioning. These are designed to be close wall speakers and there is huge difference in sound compared to regular speakers. The midrange is perfect on male voices, and I've not heard a better dome tweeter at any price. This is an amazing sounding unit so far, and I'm not done tuning. Check out their Okara series also for the ability to go close to the walls.

In my small room the listening postion is between 7 and 8 feet depending on recline angle. This is the minimum distance Meadowlark recommended in the owner's manual. It sounds fine o me as did the Vandersteens. The 1Cs regularly sell for less the $500 used on Audiogon. At that price you could give them a try and sell at minimal loss if not happy.

single driver,
doesn't need to be played L O U D to sound alive!
can be placed flat up to the wall
increadable detailed sound
Carolina Audio JTM's
http://carolinaaudio.com/

I am extremely happy with my Totem Arros in a 9x11x8 listening room! I highly recommend them!

ERA Design 4 (699) or 5 (899) monitors would work nicely in your small room, and fit into the lower end of your budget. I compared the Design 4 against a pair of Totem Rainmakers driven by Sim Audio separates. The Rainmakers throw a slightly larger soundstage, however the Rainmaker's highs are not as natural sounding as the Design 4's, and the bass has more of a ported sound compared to the more solid bass of the Design 4. The Design 4 also has a more focused soundstage. The ERA Design speakers were designed by Michael Kelly of Arial Acoustics. Build quality is excellent btw. I'm considering the Design 5 and matching center for my HT.