Best speakers under $500? Fire away!

Agree with paraneer. I’m sure the ELAC UB5 is a fine speaker, but not a good choice for the 3020 since it is very inefficient speaker. Take a look at it’s specifications here,

http://elac.com/product/ub5/

Since it is a 4 ohm speaker. that 85db sensitivity is actually a 2 watt rating, and it’s 1 watt rating would be 82db. That’s 13db lower than the Klipsch RB-61 which is 95db. The UB5 needs more power than the 3020. Elac recommends 40 -140 wpc and I’m thinking at least 100 to be somewhat comparable to the capabilities of the Klipsch/3020 combo.

When you are playing your system at it’s loudest, how many of the lights above the volume control blink? That can give you a good indication of how low you could go in speaker sensitivity.

"tls49... going to listen at higher levels and will see how many lights illuminate.  I was at only 10 o'clock volume the other night and 4 of the lights lit up."

If you listen at levels that cause that 5th light to illuminate frequently, then that is extremely close to the maximum capability of your system. It has nothing to do with the position of the volume control. Also, I'm thinking you should only consider speakers with a sensitivity above 90db unless you plan to replace the 3020 with a higher wattage amp. A 92db speaker would require 40 watts to have the same capability as your Klipsch/3020 combo, a 89db speaker would require 80 watts, and a 86db speaker would require 160 watts. Every 3db is a double or a half of power depending on the direction you're going.

"I think I have narrowed down my choices to the ELAC Debut B6 and Wharfedale Diamond 10.1.  Both are roughly $259 shipped and can be returned easily.  Sensitivity is 86/87db for both."

Keep in mind that because both are 6 ohm speakers, that sensitivity rating is for 1.5 watts. Correcting to a 1 watt rating will be 84.5/85.5.

I could just post a "+3", but I'll try to explain.

" tls49... going to listen at higher levels and will see how many lights illuminate.  I was at only 10 o'clock volume the other night and 4 of the lights lit up. "

When that 4th light blinks, that means the amp is peaking at 20 watts of output power. Now the 3020 can peak at least 40 watts and a little higher depending on the load. So, the above scenario is well within it's operating range.

The sensitivity of the  ELAC Debut B6 is spec'd at 87db, but as I said, that needs to be adjusted to 85.5 db because it's a 6 ohm speaker. Stereophile actually measured it at 85db. That's 10db lower than the Klipsch speakers you are currently using. That means the B6 will require more than 160 watts of peak power to play at the same volume of the above scenario with the Klipsch needing 20 watts of peak power. Do you actually think the 3020 is capable of peaking more than 160 watts?

So, +3   huge mistake