Best Full Range Speakers @ Around $2000?

*true* full-range? bass response down to 20hz, +/-2db? try used thiel 3.5's; if ya must spend $2k, then buy *two* pairs, & run 'em back-to-back! ;~) this, actually, is what mr. thiel recommends doing w/his speakers, in lieu of bi-amping, which is why his recent models don't have more than one pair of rca's... the thiels are also quite accurate & detailed, & image great for a big speaker.

my thiel 3.5's - an *especially* difficult load, due to their bass equalizer (which is how they go down to 20hz) - are currently being used in a 2nd system in my kitchen (big kitchen!). they're being driven by a 35wpc audio innovations integrated, and they get *plenty* loud. if ya find a decent integrated w/lotsa current that will increase wattage as the ohms drop (the 3.5's are a 4-ohm load), yule be all right. re: monitors, i like proacs, aerial, diapason, jm labs, merets, sonus fabers. most monitors, will take up the same space as floor-standers, properly set-up w/stands. but, yule usually get better sound in *all* areas above 100hz, by foregoing *any* real output below ~50hz, at any given price-point, imho... my main set-up has a pair of meret re's, x'd over at 60hz to a pair of vmps larger subs. i like the monitor/sub solution to full-range sound at a somewhat reasonable price. - easier to set-up each speaker to optimize what it does best, &, as said before, i tink monitors do thing floor-stander's can't, at any given price-point.

deborah, if yer looking for a speaker that radiates most of its energy directly towards the listening-spot, perhaps ewe should try dunlavys - they have a *very* narrow sweet-spot, primarily cuz they're so directional. one reviewer, talking about their largest model, the sc-vi's, said they were "the worlds largest headfones", due to the *great* imaging, but *only* at the sweet-spot...

deborah, i *told* ya the dunlavy's would be good in a problem room! ;~) now, buy the alchemist kraken integrated that's f/s here on audiogon, & yule be happy - nice non-solid-state sounding amp. but, it *also* runs hot - pure class-a. mebbe not as hot as a tubed unit, tho. also, *unbelievably* cool-looking, if ya care... i'm tempted to buy it, for looks alone, for my kitchen system, but my audio innovations alto is yust fine, & my *main* system is sucking up too much money presently. or, electrocompaniet has a real nice sound, for solid-state, if ya like tubes...