forget speakers for life,I want to upgrade now

Unfortunately not..I don't think any speaker around 2K or up to 3K can beat Studio 100..

Paradigm makes great speakers at extremely reasonable prices. The only speaker with more bang for the buck that I can think of is the Shahinian Obelisk at $4000 retail new or $2000 used.

IMHO, the psb Stratus Goldi rivals the Studio 100 v2 for $2600 new or substantially less used. Also, the Legacy Classic is no slouch either!

Good Luck!

In no order, I would own any of these before Paradigm

B&W
Hales - what I own
Linn
PSB
Magnepan
Martin Logan
Monitor
Ruark
ProAc

I have yet to make an upgrade with real sonic merit that was not accomopanied by an increase in sticker price. Quad 988 used is very good value.

Judit makes an understatement in my opinion. The Quad 988 is the best value ever. Too bad it's beyond Rrumphs desired price point.

I'm extremely happy to tell you that in fact there is a speaker in this price range that does surpass the Paradigm Studio 100 v2.

I'll begin by telling you that I am a big fan of electrostatics, I have owned a number of different models including Acoustat 2+2's and Model 3's. With that said, I recently embarked on a journey to find THAT speaker that would satisfy all my needs and would not be a big panel. Started with the B&W's, pricey and I was not happy with the overall sound quality. The only model that was in any way making me happy was the 802, at that price it needed to be an awful lot better for me to consider it. So I kept looking, a friend suggested I look into the Paradigm Studio line-up. I took the advice and was initially impressed, but again, something was missing. But at least with the Paradigm's I wasn't going to be missing mortgage payments.

Then one fine day I walked into an audio store to audition CD players. Casual conversation lead to discussion about my search for THAT speaker. This store carried KEF, Martin Logan and the top end Energy line. They also carried one other line, PSB. After listening for a while I wasn't getting that grab me feeling, so just out of interest I asked if I could listen to the PSB Goldi. Immediately there was that "it's right" feeling. Upon the advice of the salesman I decided to try them at home, hooked up to own electronics I was even more impressed. From top to bottom I just can't find anything these speakers do wrong. Are they the best speaker money can buy, no way, I've heard some of the best and I've owned some of the best, but these guy's just do so much right I could in no way justify spending the kind of money it would take to begin finding speakers that improved on them.

Now I'm back looking at my front end components, the money I thought I would be spending on the likes of an 802 will absolutely improve my chances for that "killer" source component, and I think I'll go on a CD spending spree.

Long and short, if it's music your in search of give the PSB's a shot.

Kinima G4's from Zetagcorp. Deep tight bass, smooth mid and a nice non fatiging high that is easy on the ear. Go to google for info.

Take a look at the reviews of Silverline speakers. www.silverlineacoustics.com They use premier components and engineering concept. Even the $2500.00 Panatella III's have better performance than Paradigm. It's all in your own definition of "good sound". I love the Sonata II($6500.00)