Which speakers should I get. $500-$1000

PSB *is* an excellent speaker with an honest tonal balance that works well with acoustic music such as classical and jazz. So is the new Monitor Audio Silver RX series, which has a smoother treble than the older RS.

A third option, with a Canadian tonal balance similar to the PSB, is the Mirage OMD15. It's $800/pair in gloss black or $1K/pair in rosewood. The speaker was originally $2500/pair but are being sold direct now from Vanns.com for much less, but with return privileges and the full factory warranty. I've had a pair of these anchor my 2-channel system for over 4 years now, and I listen to *a lot* of classical and jazz. The OMD-15s always sound smooth, natural, capable of excellent detail, and have a dispersion pattern that energizes the room very much like acoustic instruments.

At $800, highly recommended, and unlike most used purchases, your decision is protected by a return period and 5-year factory warranty.

Shubert, To each his own indeed, if your smart enough you can maximize the potential of an inherently neutral superb value without spending riches in the process.

09-26-12: Unsound
Shubert, To each his own indeed, *if you're smart enough* you can maximize the potential of an inherently neutral superb value without spending riches in the process.

I don't think the OP is looking for something with a long learning curve. Thiels are great, but are pretty demanding on system matching. PSB, Monitor Audio (esp. the new RX series over the RS), and Mirage have a natural tonal balance while digging out a lot of ambience and detail. You can match any of them with a Marantz PM8004 integrated amp and get *really* excellent sound without a lot of tweaking, fiddling, and component swapping.

Johnnyb53, it's not rocket science, with the advice available here it needn't be a long learning curve, and the efforts are IMHO certainly worth it, but your point is not without merit.

Mikirob

sorry for the delayed response

I have owned Maggie 1.6, JM Reynaud Trentes, and Audio Note Kit 3 speakers and the 300ti's hold their own. Of course they were all different systems and the system I run the 300ti with is quite cheap compared to some good stuff I ran the other speakers with, the full range overall satisfying sound is hard to deny. They have 'it', an undefinable quality that satisfies and pleases while at the same time doing typical hi fi things right (detail, dynamic range etc)

of course good luck finding another mint pair like I did

btw I bought mine about 3 years ago...

enjoy

also sorry OP and good luck