Best small used monitors under $1000

Any LS3/5A type of speaker. The Spendor 3/5 can be had for well under a grand!

Check out what’s available here from time to time.

http://ohmspeaker.com/outlet-store/

Silverline Minuet.

REGA RX1 or its predecessor models, the RS1 or the R1

http://www.stereotimes.com/speak121305.shtml

".....The Rega R1 becomes my new budget reference speaker. In addition of its ability to get the fundamentals of music right, it adds clarity and resolution, and an ability to lay out a vivid and coherent 3-dimensional stereo image. In small room applications, what more could you want?..."

Zu Omen Bookshelf speakers.
What is your budget for the remaining equipment?
B

 ATC SCM 11 or Genelec 8020 or KEF R300

Save money and get an old pair of KLH5's, or if too big, Dyna A25's

Maybe Vienna too.

Epos Elan 10s or Epos Epic 1s with one of the new Yamaha integrateds would make a great match for that room size. You'd have plenty left over for some heavy, good quality stands, which impact the sound more than you might assume.

I've owned the Epic 2 speakers (larger and probably too much bass for your room) for 4 years and they compete well with most speakers under $3K. Of course, speakers all come down to personal taste, but these Epos models are great all rounders IMO, and don't have any blatant weaknesses. 

Guru QM10-2 used if you can find one. Really fun, great prat. Awesome little speakers. 

Hi yogi, I have a pair of s 3/5 spendors. They sound a little veiled. I have to try with solid state. It might be the speaker itself since I purchased used.

mapman I have followed you journey with the audio note kit and really enjoyed it. What is your current system?

i have minuet supreme plus in the office with a Yamaha rx 777 and like those but was wondering about the quad12l. 

Im more curious about others systems and the synergies. 

Silverline  Minuet, Elac UB5,  and if you are willing to go just a bit over budget, the KEF LS-5o is among the best around at any price in a small room.(That is what I use in my 9x11 room with great results) Any of these could be driven to good effect with modest, but carefully picked out electronics. As you know, when you are assembling a world class playback system at any budget, make sure to select the best source components you can afford. A lousy source will make even megabuck efforts sound not nearly as good as they are capable of..

Let's talk about all the components in the system not just speakers.
brian

If you go used

Proac tablets

Proac response 1sc great if you can find a set most people keep them

sonus Faber has a bunch of nice small speakers that can be had under a grand now consertino domus comes to mind

ls 3/5 as people mentions but they need more power then most small speakers

Monitor audio and Dynaudio have some wonderful speakers under a grand too

That's a start so many more 

Some great suggestions here. Another is the Eminent Technology LFT-16a, a magnetic-planar/dynamic woofer hybrid that retails for $1250.

Any Green Mountain Audio monitor such as the Callisto or Europa, possibly the Rio also

Used Joseph Audio RM7s would do it for me. 

I heard every speaker in the current Harbeth line except the P3ESR. I can’t imagine they sound bad:) I assume you are in Portugal. You may able to find a used P3ESR around $1000ish. Not in US though.

If you're willing to go the active route I highly recommend the Airpulse Model One's - $995.00   I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and Just a great all around speaker for the price and then some. I'm going to be doing an updated review on these soon 

Hi Celo , I'm in the US.

There is a pair of Harbeth P3’s that is listed here for $1200. You should jump on them before someone else grabs them!

@yogiboy Good find!
@brianportugal I would just buy them really. Worse case scenario, you sell them at the price maybe even more than what you paid for.

@celo
I was thinkin’ the same thing. I have those speakers and have never seen them listed at a price that low. BTW,yesterday there was a rosewood pair listed at $1300 and they were sold in 2 hours!

Although I'm a single driver guy, I do have a second system where I'm constantly fooling around with more conventional setups using small speakers.

My current favorites are Amphion Heliums.  I've had many of the suggested speakers on this thread (P3esr, LS50, Silverline Minuet + among others) and the Amphion is definitely my favorite.  Currently using them with a Nuprime STA-9 and a Schiit Saga preamp.

@yogiboy my search is over after Harbeth:) Sometimes I wonder why I didn't audition them before so I could end my speakers search years ago:)

KEF LS50

Spendor SP2/2 or Spendor SP-1.

I second the KEF LS 50's

I had Neat Motive 3, Monitor Audio GX50 and Epos K5.
Then got PMC DB1i ... those PMC's blow them all away for me.
Simply amazing

I bought a pair of inexpensive LSA speakers that sound pretty good in my high end preamp going to Akitika power amp which I built for a few hundred dollars. Good enough for my casual listening. I have a mostly class A system for my listening (in my music chair).

For my snowbird home I bought a pair of used Revel Performa 2s for under 1k. They will be matched with a First Sound preamp and a Plinius P10 power amp and a serviceable Marantz CD player that I may upgrade at some point. The Revels are quite a bit better than the LSAs. Over the years I have upgraded my speaker and interconnect to Acoustic Zen through Audiogon. I do have basic Supra speaker cable in my casual system that sounds quite good for a very reasonable price.

Platinum Audio Solo
A pair comes up on here from time to time under $1000 with stands(which are critical).  They are a beautiful speaker that sounds amazing.  I have the Quattro tower and absolutely love them.  

Try Vienna acoustics Hayden, incredible sound when used with a powerful amp. They're pretty close to my VA Bach and Mozart 

Wow. 22 plus different model suggestions to what I thought would be a simple answer. Tough hobby to get into! :)

In that Price Range there is nothing better than active studio monitors.

JBL LSR 305 + chord mojo + tablet/ smartphone or chord poly

option 2

Neumann KH 120 AW (white version) + Ayre codex + sotm sms100

use single solid core cables only like audioquest, dnm, vovox

get good Stands 

The Wavetouch Grand Tetons are superb and compete with virtually any speaker made - can be found used for <$1000. True "giant killers!"

Second choice would be the KEF LS50 - without question.

Kef ls50 lack dynamics and need expensive amplification.

Trust me - Jbl lsr 305 - very good dynamics that some 10k speakers are unable to deliver. The Neumann kh120 is 10% better in sound quality, better build quality (cast aluminum), metal grilles, made to last forever!
chord mojo DAC - the very best if you listen to low Bitrate stuff like webradio, Spotify or MP3 

Dynaudio DM 2/6. The DM 2/8 is what I use really smooth in my opinion or the ZU Audio ZU cube are great.

KEF R101.  I have two sets in two different rooms.  I bought them new in the early 1980's.  They sound wonderful, and get better each year.  I see them from time to time on ebay and other used resources.

Dynaudio Excite X12's - great sounding small speaker.

I bought a pair of KEF LS50 used with stands for $750!  They are found used regularly for less than $1,000.  Originally I was driving them with a NAD 326BEE which I picked up used still under warranty for $275.  This makes up a pretty amazing system for around $1K.  A better option would be Rogue Audio Sphinx integrated which you could find used for less than a grand.  LS50 is least expensive Stereophile Class A recommendation and they keep a Sphinx on hand for many of their speaker comparisons.  Stereophile believes this pairing is ridiculously good for the money.

Classic - Spica TC50
Modern - just about anything by Totem

Lately I've been seriously auditioning bookshelf speakers under $1k, and for the most part I've been quite disappointed. I did come across a new one, however, that both I and my most experienced audiophile friend have been raving about -- the new HSU CCB-8. They are a bit larger in size than most bookshelves, but their sound is impressive. Just make sure you take the grills off when you listen. For some reason the grills have a significant muffling affect on the speakers. 

Seikosha, which amphion heliums do you like and what equipment..? We have very similar taste in equipment.

I still have my omega 3xrs and really love them, what are you using now for single driver speakers and associated equipment?

brian

Hi brianportugal,

Its the Amphion Helium 2 that I listen to in my second system.  My main system consists of the Omega Alnico monitor driven by Quicksilver Horn Mono amplifiers.  I really need to update my systems page.

Thankyou seikosha! What electronics for the amphions?

Nuprime sta-9 amp and Schiit Saga preamp.  I also have a Rega Brio but prefer the Nuprime with the Amphion.

For that budget skip the separates and go active  The Airpulse Model One"s will easily outperform anything under $1000.00