Entering the world of audio, help with first setup- speakers to pair with Peachtree 220SE


After many years of education and limited budget (tough to finance anything while in medical school...), I finally have the means to make a decent budget setup for a home listening system.  It's intended to be a 2-way system in a smaller room, and the pieces of the puzzle that I currently have are a Schiit Mani phono preamp, a good condition Technics SL-23 turntable (craigslist find), and a Peachtree 220SE purchased for a good price from a friend.  Looking for a pair of floorstanding speakers with a max budget of 1.5k for the speakers.  Having searched the forums and classifieds, and given the budget, used seems to be the best bet.  Some speaker options that I have run across (including some specifically on the classifieds here) include used smaller Magnepans, Vienna Mozart Grand, Dali Mentor 6, Elac Uni-fi UF5, Vandersteen 3a.  Any recommendations? Taste in music varies greatly, playing anything from rock to classical. 
rtraudt
What is the size and shape is your listening area? How loud do you normally listen? Answering these questions will help get some insightful feedback. 
    Enjoy the ride!
the ones you mention are a great place to start...there are many dozens of possible good candidates at various prices...


strolling through the classifieds here i saw a pair of dynaudio focus 260 and also some dunlavy iii, both excellent.   no relation to the sellers.
I saw these the other day while looking for a friend - almost bought them myself

Tannoy Eyris CD3 speakers
http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649411893-tannoy-eyris-dc3-walnut-pair-of-speakers/

Tannoy Eyris CD1 speakers
http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649411896-tannoy-eyris-dc1-walnut-pair-of-speakers/

Granted - they are a little older than you might want, but they are excellent speakers and employ the Tannoy "Super Tweater" and provide exceptional performance. They are a good match for your amp

Tannoy’s last a lifetime - I’ve had my Mercury Fusion speakers for around 10 years - no problems and great sounding - but the Eyris are a couple of models above the fusion - so much better imaging, deeper bass and smoother extended upper frequencies

BTW - those are Canadian Dollars :-)

Regards - Steve


Dont (initially) worry about matching to the Peachtree - rather match to your likes/dislikes and to your room, then filter by those that will work well with the Peachtree.  In general, i would work the problem in reverse. Speakers, in addition to "good, better, maybe bad", have a lot of personal preference and room interaction built in.
I am only a little further down the same road. But, at least in my limited experience, I would also not worry as much about matching to the Peachtree. I would get the speakers I want, at least for now, If you are like most us afflicted with audiophilia, you will upgrade or change components sooner than you expect right now.  But, having long-term speakers makes doing that both easier and cheaper. Before I could afford much else, I bought some B&W 804s speakers, and I have been through two amp set-ups since, and the speakers just keep sounding better as the components improve.
Thanks for the feedback thus far.  I don't have the exact specs for my room so I will have to get those, but it is a medium sized seating room (to be very vague until I can get actual numbers).  As for listening tendencies, I plan to use it for everything from Led Zeppelin to Bach, with a tendency towards more frequent listening to rock at moderate volumes (but I do live in a house, not an apartment, so it will get turned up every so often).  As for location, I'm in Milwaukee, WI!
Lots of B & M stores in your region. Take your Peachtree with your and audition some speakers.