salesperson recomends what do you think

Ditto Silverline Preludes, but with the addition of a sub. I scored my Preludes for 400 bucks used...current version...Ebay or something, and they simply needed a speaker to be wired to the xover (seller paid for that)...maybe that's why they were so cheap...and a REL Q150e for 200 bucks. In my medium large room they sound amazing, and have plenty of punch even with my 65 wpc tube amp. I only mention the prices to make everyone feel jealous of my good fortune.

Gee Wolf. I feel ripped off for paying 600s mint.

How big a room would you guess Preludes would still sound good in with a fast sub like an REL?
I currently use mine in a 12x11 room without a sub which they load perfectly.I'm guessing 15x 12 might be their max without a sub.Only speakers I ever owned that I can find NO fault with.

What sound characteristics are most important to you? Imaging, soundstaging, tone, dynamics, PRaT, etc.?

Schubert...it was a weird score as I'd just heard a set of Preludes at a friend's house, and my then current speakers had a midrange mush issue (Vienna Bachs bad crossover component maybe)...a wonderful accident that happened to me because I'm such a consistently good person. I often remind my friend of my score since he paid full retail for his, and did the research to find 'em in the first place. I wonder sometimes about the "large room" issue as it seems that only matters if you're planning a drunk ass dance party...do people listen to stuff in "large rooms" from 50 feet away? Do they insist on sound that knocks the dust off the chandeliers? Cause the butler to drop the tray of caviar? Note that a good sub does more than play obvious bass notes...it sort of "charges" a room and warms up everything...used RELs are always a good idea.

Your are a good person Wolf, I just always feel any room sound better if its "pressurized" to use the common term, not that I know what that really means.

It like when you're listening to music taking over the room,not necessarily at loud volumes mind you, as opposed to listening to music thats just in in the room.