Help Bookshelf recommendations


I'm seeking recommendations for my first pair of bookshelf speakers. I've always owned towers & need something smaller for the home theatre in my relatively small room (about 15' x 20'). I live in northern Michigan and there are no AV stores in which I can demo equipment.

The vast majority of my home theatre time is spent on concert DVDs. Clapton, Sting, etc.

The best sounding speakers in my past experience were Alon IVs. I also enjoy Klipsch but, as we all know, the highs can be fatiguing. I'm going to be purchasing used from Audiogon & have a budget of $1000.

Please take a moment to give me some recommendations. I'll do the research if you'll give me the leads. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
kewadinbob
Curious on what the other components are that you'll be using in this system and also what sort of presentation do you expect these speakers to deliver? I'm also assuming that this system will be a 2-channel or a 2.1 (2 channel w/subwoofer), is this correct? If not, might be nice to know what your center and rear speakers are.
Kewadinbob:

You may get a plethora of loudspeaker recommendations in reponse to your inquiry but in all honesty, you really should try and get to a hi-fi store somewhere in northern MI and listen. You may end up disappointed buying without listening first. We all have our own likes and preferences but in the end, all that matters is yours. I'm not sure how far up in MI you are but there is a store in Traverse City that sells Bowers & Wilkins speakers. They probably handle other brands as well (The Sound Room, 3275 S. Airport Rd, Traverse City 49684, 231-947-4710). B&W offers a wide range of bookshelf speakers. Their newest 600 series, which I recently auditioned, is superb. The 686 and 685 speakers are the two standmounts in this series and very reasonably priced. There's another store on the same road in Traverse City called "A Better Sound" (231-933-7225). They sell PSB loudspeakers, another excellent brand.

If you're in the UP and on the western side, there's a hi-fi store Marinette, WI called The Sound Seller, 2808 Cahill Rd, Marinette, WI 54143, 715-735-9002. They too sell PSB loudspeakers.

Another great brand is NHT. There's a store in Marquette, WI called Sound Surroundings, 517 Spruce St, Marquette 49855, 906-226-2828.

NHT are also sold at a store in Cheboygan, MI. They are Audio Video Solutions, 9916 N. Straits Hwy, Cheboygan 49721, no phone given.

So you have some choices if you can take a drive to these areas. But to recap, NHT, PSB, B&W, KEF, and Proac are great brands. CHeck out their websites. Good luck.
$1000 should get you some excellent monitors. Alon Petite, Nola Rascal, Totem Model 1, Green Mountain Audio Europa, Spendor S3/5se... to name a few. Cleaneduphippy is right to ask what the rest of your system looks like. Tubes? SS? btw, Alon IV's are killer speakers.
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Thanks for the feedback! My system consists of the Klipsch KLF-30s, RC-3 II center, and SS-1 surrounds....powered by a Marantz SR-18 receiver. Source materials come from a Sony DVD jukebox and my Dish Network HD receiver. I'll most likely be selling-off the center and surrounds in order to match whichever mains I purchase. The Klipsch sub will stay. Thanks!