College student stuck w/ bad speakers: advise pls

Why are "Klipsch, Bose, Polk" out of the question? Cost? Bose is not even close, so forget those, you get nothing for your money, however klipsch and Polk both have some real killer speakers for the prices, and used you can do some damage, maybe not towers, but they do make some good bookshelves that might meet your needs.. And yes Saturday audio in chicago normally gets many used klipsch and polk, along with some others... PSB might be pretty nice too, but depends if they are in budget.

Monitor Audio BR2

Thank you for all of your suggestions.

Really, Swampwalker, I've heard the Linns are extremely musical. I really liked the British sound of the MA S2s which I owned for a while as I ran it through its paces.

Matrix, I guess I shouldn't discount Polk or Klipsch, but with my own system it's always pleasing, but the imaging and soundstage aren't exactly what I need for this use. That 120 WPC system can go far beyond listening levels that I'd ever need without a hint of distortion. I've heard great things about the LSI series.

Jaybo and Grinnell, Triangle Stella; Comete or Advents I haven't really heard of, but I'll look into them for sure.

The Sound I need:

For this project, I need to show off my favorite band Radiohead, and that requires separation between instruments on the soundstage.

Melodic electric guitar and tantilizing combinations of instruments must be pulled out into the room, such as on the track "Weird Fishes" from Radiohead's In Rainbows. If you're familiar with Jonny Greenwood's soundtrack for There Will Be Blood, that'll do as well. Ambient music (like strings) must pop out at me more, just like the S2. It'd be nice if it could manage the multiple instruments in Sufjian Stevens' song Chicago without getting jumbled.

How do I get those immediate guitars that reach out and grab you? Think of the Beatles Revolution, that electric guitar which is peppered throughout is what needs to jump out. I know it's possible because the Monitor Audio S2 did it very well. Would you describe that as forward, I don't know, simply realistic I'd say.

Should I just stick with the S2? Trouble is I can't find it for what I consider a good price.

So many people keep suggesting PSB, and I guess I need to demo those. The Paradigms are more of an all-around decent speaker, but I need an excellent music-focused speaker for two channel listening.

I've heard people suggest Totems, and with an unlimited budget I would at least want to try those as well as the Linn Katan and Epos M12.2.

Size is a concern as I did buy a half-rack amp, lol. I will keep everyone updated.

Man, your description really points to Triangle speakers. Grinnell is right on the money IMO. The Titus and Stella are in your price range, new with warranty, and your 30W amp will love them. The Cometes have a lot more bass but are also around $500 and are much larger.

I have had Monitor Audios, Energies, Paradigms, Epos, Elacs, and Triangles and in general the Triangles are the best of them all IMO. They have a very vibrant character and have image separation and definition like no other in this price range, and yet they are very coherent and melodic. Awesome speakers that will really make Radiohead sing (except for track 2 on Hail to the Thief for which you need a speaker with exceptional bass capability).

Totem Rainmakers are enjoyable but don't have enough treble accuracy for the level of imaging the Triangles are capable of. The only other speakers I have heard that come close are the ERA D4 speakers from Signal Path, which you should also consider but they are not nearly as efficient as the Triangles and I don't think they look nearly as cool either.

Arthur

I got my Son a pair of a/d/s 570's they rock and can be had for around $ 200.00 a pair they are heavy so its not easy to walk away with without a handtruck