Obviously any recommendation for any audio product is just you ought to audition it. I don't believe anyone has recommended Rockport speakers yet and they are a no brainer to include in your search. The Lyra is a bit above your quoted price but may be in your area and it's one of the most impressive designs I've seen. Plus the designer seems to have his own reflex alignment which appears to give a reflex speaker many of the good qualities of a closed box. This is not just a claim; it showed up in a Stereophile graph of an older model.
