Best speakers under $500? Fire away!

KEF LS50, Harbeth P3 need save not only a little more, it's 2 to 3 times, it's hard to beat the Wharfedale Denton, the romantic sound, heritage build, and fantastic price

Yes, all LS 3/5a style speakers need clean power amp, do not try ady warm signature amp like Marantz, not saying it's not working, just not the best

@itzhak1969 It really can be confusing if you say that, having heard other speakers like Dynaudio, I dun think especially the Denton lose a lot, in terms of music resolution, if you want compare dynamic that's another story, you have to guide based on OP music preferences, as always there is no perfect speakers, you want something sound overwhelming may result listening to some music as overly bright or detailed, the Denton strike the balance amazingly, it's not really that it's not dynamic, just to the sense of ultimate it's not, but I can say it's enough powerful and musical for 95% music, I think even the Dynaudio lose a bit if to compare how easy to listen to wider music genre

@34dean My experience with NAD 3020 was great which was my first start to enjoy British speakers, also unlike Topping TP60 which unable to drive properly some speakers, the NAD works very well, however the bass could be a little bit mellow, you need cleaner and more power to bring out the muscle grip of some bass notes

@itzhak1969 Can't say you are wrong, subjective from people to people, gear matching also play a part here, my experience with all metal tweeters so far is not very good, it may give you a little bit more or big nuance in air and clearness, but not over a long listening sessions, also you hear different than I am, I'm a bit sensitive to metal tweeters, I would 99% try to avoid it and can confirm it cover less genre, some recordings sound harsh and overly detailed on top end, though I haven't heard of the Harbeth P3, which also metal tweeters if I remember