Best used floorstander on the FS forum under $2500

Von Schweikert vr-4jr mkll for $2,300
ATC SCM40 for $2,600 obo (probably get them for $2.5k)

Stretch another $500.00 and buy the Coincedent's on auction. No affiliation just a smokin deal for someone.

For what system - what are you going to pair them with? What size room? What kind of music do you listen to?

Nadda. ML Vista's get my money every time. B&W can't approach the presentation of the Vista's. Flame on, but it's true.

Don't those Von Schweikerts go flat to 20hz? I'll tell you this much, I heard them at one of the shows with Albert's cabling, and they are MUCH better than the 1st version, which were quite good.

Aerial 10t $1800 with stands. Seen some Nola Vipers in that ball park but simply adore aerial with muscle amp.

08-26-10: Jax2
For what system - what are you going to pair them with? What size room? What kind of music do you listen to?

Critical questions, for sure.
1) what type of speakers - high efficiency/Single or wide-range driver, electrostats/ribbon/hybrid, or multi-way cone drivers.
2) what amps are going to be used? Or will speakers be used to dictate which amps will be used?
3) size of room, types of music preferred, and normal listening volumes
4) Personal preferences for types of sound. What speakers has the poster heard and liked/disliked?

These need to be dynamic style floor standing. Not overly large. My amp is a VERY high current, pure Class A amp which does 50w/ch at 8 ohms and 100w/ch at 4 ohms, and will play 2 ohm stereo at 200 w/ch. .... So efficiency is somewhat important, but not too much so, due to the high current.

Room size is 14x20 ... so medium sized. I need a speaker that will rock ... No necessarily in ultimate volume, but in the ability to make drums and bass sound real ( no polite sounding Proac bass for me ) ... I also need these speakers to be able to play with enough resolution and control to unravel music like Tool etc ...

You can buy these used:

Salk Song Towers - Used

or buy them new for $1000 more:

Salk Song Tower - New

08-26-10: Timtim
My amp is a VERY high current, pure Class A amp which does 50w/ch@8 ohms..100w/ch@4 ohms, 200 w/ch@2 ohms

What brand and model is it? It would help a lot to know the character and quality of the amp.

Room size is 14x20 ... so medium sized. I need a speaker that will rock...in the ability to make drums and bass sound real... I also need these speakers to be able to play with enough resolution and control to unravel music like Tool etc

I'm a big Tool fan, too. Both the Von Schweikert and ATC speakers I recommended above will satisfy all your needs. The VS will go deeper with more grunt, but both are very high resolution speakers. ATC's drivers are world famous for their extremely low distortion.

But, be aware that both speakers can reveal weaknesses in your system, especially amp quality, if they are not high quality.

The best picks for your requirements are currently the Von Schweikert VR4 jr, PSB T60, and Revel Performa F50.