Good speakers in the sub-$1K range

I spent the last 3 weeks listening to speakers in the same price class, (mine was Canadian so it would be lower for you.) After numerous direct comparisons I settled on JMLabs Mégane Carats. They were recently discontinued and the price to quality ratio is fabulous. They are extremely effecient on most set-ups and have a fine open soundstage that is perfect for Jazz and classics, especially acoustic jazz. Of course if you can afford the replacement model it would probably be better, (sorry but I can't remember the model number). All in all I find them excellent for most musical tastes and amply powerful to fill a medium sized apartment with clear, rich and detailed sound. They are smallish two way speakers so don't expect super bass extension. However they compared more than favorably to B&W, AR, Audio Monitor, and Sonus Faber models in the same class and price range. >> 

Please- If you haven't already purchased your speakers- do yourself a favour and listen to the Dynaudio Audience 50's. In the sub 1K range they are simply the best I've heard.

if it were me and i was looking for a nice sounding pair of speakers to set up in a place i was spending my working week at....i would call Madisound......and order a pair of dynaudio 17w75's..a pair of d28 tweeters......and a premade box.......then i would call joel at meniscus and have him whip up a nice custom crossover for you......have it next day aired to the apartment..stop at the hardware store and get a phipps screwdriver and some screws.........order a pizza and a bottle of wine delivered to the house and it about an hour..and 400 bucks later you will have not only an awesome set of speakers.........you will have a great story to tell all your friends*l*

It may not be as practicle as a book shelf, but the Vandersteen 1c at $700 is a great match with wintage tube systems, we have used these with Jolida, Dyna Model 70 and other low output tubes, and pure music. Not the last word in detail and bass, but overall does most things just right. I see these used for 400-500 on the internet. Good Luck!

I have a simmilar system to the one you described, Sound Valves amplifier (basically an upgraded and modified stereo 70) and an Audio Research sp-6b. I just bought a pair of Vienna Acoustic Haydns. I auditioned probably 30 or 40 speakers over the last year and these are my favourites over all. Cost was about $900 with stands, and I think this is pretty close to the retail price, so you might be able to get them cheaper. good luck.