Best Speakers for small room under $3.5k

I agree about trying something better than the PBJ. I noticed a big difference between the PBJ and the Cardas Cross, and an even bigger difference with the Golden Cross (of course it depends on your preferences).

Outlier, in addition to cable changes, you need to consider room treatments. You haven't mentioned a thing about your room. In fact, I rarely see the room, as a component, mentioned. I do like Phild's recommendation on Cardas cables, esp. Golden Cross. Good look tweaking!

How about Wilson Watts {No Puppies} ??? Thats what I use because i have the same problem {small room} I Had to get rid of Arial 10Ts and i dont regret it at all

Outlier: Not to nag, but also you will want to make certain that your source is well isolated. I prefer the Vibrapods under an MDF base as apposed to cones in our current placement. But will soon have to move the components (that are blocking a heat vent) to another piece of furniture and location, so this may change. The difference this made was jaw dropping. I prefer the Homegrown Super Silver interconnects, my wife likes the Harmonic Tech. Truthlinks, this is just to say that cable is difficult to recommend. I just added $2 worth of felt material around the tweeters on our speakers (not an option and not necessary on your speakers) and what a difference in the HF. I can now listen to "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions" without gritting my teeth. Once I have achieved the maximum sound in our setup, I will probably move on to new speakers, but in the meantime the process of doing so has become a challenge that is kind of fun in a way. One more note - I find it necessary to hedge the speaker placement when I switch cables in order to re-balance the sound. I have a set of written speaker coordinates for each set of cables. My wife has gotten used to the pencil marks on the walls and my use of the T square and protracter. Though I am certain that she thinks that I am nuts.

Reference 3 A MM de Capos- see review on Soundstage. Also www.audiotweakers.com where you can purchase.