Speakers for newbie

You seem to know what you like and don't like, so I'd highly recommend getting out and hearing more speakers. Once you have a broader frame of reference it will make it much more likely you'll find "The One." And it's fun.

That said, in case it wasn't mentioned earlier, I'll throw out the Silverline Preludes as a good option to audition if you can. Their Minuet monitors would also be good and are well below your budget new, but you may find yourself searching for a sub a little earlier. Best of luck and congrats on the new place.

One of the best "sleeper" used speakers on the market...I have these in a 2 channel system...

http://reviews.cnet.com/separate-speakers/infinity-il40/4505-7869_7-6899677.html

Considering the size of your room, I recommend the Tekton Lore. The Marantz receiver should drive this speaker extremely well, and create a very wide dynamic range due to its high sensitivity.

part of the fun is to go out and listen to as many pr of speakers as you can. Talk is cheap, people that recommend Tekton, I doubt that they've even seen a pr of Tekton in person, nevermind even listen to a pair. I've never heard of Tekton until few weeks ago in another forum due to issues with the owner, and delay with orders, so you might as well avoid them.

Talk is cheap, people that recommend Tekton, I doubt that they've even seen a pr of Tekton in person, nevermind even listen to a pair.

Sorry, not the case here as I have a friend that has a pair of Lores. Appears that the delay is due to high demand,

http://tektondesign.wordpress.com/
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