Monitor help.. I know I iknow... lots of threads


I just moved from a house to a small condo.. I sold my vandy iice's because they were too big for my main living area. Now I want some monitors for my new room which is about 12x20 with a slanted vault connected to the kitchen and dining room.. a mess.
Anywho.. not much of a budget Im looking at $500 or so right now for just the monitors and a sub later on.. Pass labs Aleph 3 and an Onix xcd88 run thru an old Eico tube pre amp...
So, what I want are airy light highs with lots of definition.. shimmering cymbals.. but not fatiguing at..it seems to me every monitor review I read does mids just fine so Im not worried about that. Bass is not gonna happen in my budget. Am I gonna find something in my range if I give up bass?
jprinz
Too Bad you don't have room OR budget for Magnepan.
The 3 series and some earlier panels came with what is considered one of the truly fine ribbons ever.

If you could like with 'em on the 12' wall, maybe some MMGs? just at budget.
No room for MMG's.. they would consume the room.. aesthetically not physically. They have to be like minimum 12" off the wall I think.. really like 24" if I remember correctly? My thought is Im gonna have to hang some mini monitors off the wall somewhere.. perhaps up high in the ceiling severely slanted downward.. which I realize makes real audiophiles sigh and press the next button... but it is what it is.. I've been looking at all of the aforementioned speakers.. most out of my price range new.. but I do have patience so I can hold out.. Id prefer to buy new with a return policy however... still researching..
I would love to hear the Vandersteen VLR only because I know what he seems to shoot for with his designs. I cant afford to pull the trigger on these sadly.

http://www.vandersteen.com/vlr1_specifications.pdf
So, I paid close attention to all your suggestions.. and I watched for all of them.. and read about them.. accept I did decide the Minuet Supreme probably would not be to my liking.. but wound up pulling the trigger on a pair of near new Era D5's from classifieds here. My Aleph 3 might have the power supply to drive them.. if not, I will dust off the threshold 400a.. although I may need help lifting it off the shelf! I spent hours reading reviews and they seem to fit my bill.. My room opens into my kitchen which I did not mention.. Should have them next week.. I'll post back in case anyone else is looking for something similar with my thoughts.. Im really excited that they are touted as non-fatiguing speakers in a low price range.. hopefully I did good.