Best bookshelf speakers <$2000

I like KEF's (listening to Q150's on my desktop right now), but I think the BMR might be the best deal speaker deal in HiFi. Its like a mini-tower and you won't need a sub. You just need the right space for them as they are large. You will need a good amp, but since these are well below budget you can have extra funds available. I'd check out Van Alstine, Odyssey, Job225, Wyred4Sound, or even a Peachtree 150 or 300 and I'd look used too as you can almost always find great deals. Also for good stands check out the Monoprice Monolith stands for about $100. The 24" would be perfect for the BMR. Good luck.

@stuff_jones

1. I would say that unless you're really cranking the volume (over 95db) then I wouldn't worry too much about the sensitivity. You can often find great amps/integrateds on the used market that can easily handle these speakers. I just saw an ad come up for a pair of Odyssey monoblocks come up for about $800 for the pair. Those are killer amps that can drive anything and sound great. Check it out. Those will sell fast, but Odyssey's come up used fairly often. I wouldn't hesitate to use them with BMRs. For $400-$500 you can get a new NuForce STA-200 amp. It will also sound great with the BMRs. This amp uses a circuit from Goldmund of Switzerland (super hi-end stuff) and is almost exactly the same as the Job225 amp (built by Goldmund). I have both amps and I can't really tell a difference. They easily power anything I've hooked up to them. Those are just a couple quick options, but finding a great amp for the BMRs isn't tough. You could also use an integrated like a Peachtree 150 or 300. Those would sound amazing with the BMRs. 

2. The BMR driver looks odd, but it works great as a midrange. It has great dispersion, and the midbass is covered by the 7" driver, which extends down to the mid-30hz region. But it does look odd.

I just read where someone is comparing the BMRs with the Ascend Sierra RAAL tower and he said he can hardly hear a difference (and that's comparing to the tower). Check it out here.

Last thing I'd add is that someone posted checking out a used pair of Totem Hawks as small towers and I also owned those and would agree that if you want a small tower and can find a used pair ($1000-1500) you're getting a fantastic speaker. Those love power too, so the amp recommendations are the same, but those are great little speakers that sound huge. I prefer the RAAL tweeter to the tweeter in the Hawks, but other than that the Hawks are great and have a great small form factor.

I had Hawks for a few years and loved them. If you're going to have bookshelf speakers on stands then Hawks are a great alternative. They are small, but have a huge soundstage and image fantastically. They also play down into the mid 30's and have great detail. Everyone who heard them thought I had a subwoofer, but I don't (I know - audiophile cliche, but true with the Hawks). Not sure how anyone would blow out the driver unless they really cranked the volume and fed it too much power, but almost any speaker can have that happen. My only issue with the Hawks is that the tweeter is a metal dome which I don't love. With certain music and at moderately high volumes the highs would sometimes sound a bit edgy or too sharp. The RAAL tweeter in my Song3's has more detail, more air, more texture, and none of the edginess. That's why I also recommend the BMR's which use the same RAAL as the Song3's. Again, with most music the tweeter, which I believe is also ScanSpeak, was fine, but sometimes I would have to touch the volume down. The Hawks are great though, and if you get them used at a good price you can probably sell them down the road for about what you paid for them.

@stuff_jones

You heard what I did with the Hawks. The tweeter is a touch bright. However, what I did like is that at low and moderate volume you still get a lot of detail. Tubes helped a bit, but I'd still have to turn the volume down a bit on certain material. Overall, great speakers though and a ton of great sound for their footprint and price (when used).