The Audiovector R3 is amazing. Spot on your budget. Ultra natural sounding and revealing even at lower SPLs. That would be what I would look at. Check out Andrew Quint's review in TAS from May I think.
I have atcsm40 want possible alternative
I have the atc sm40's. My only complaint is they seem to have to be played really loud for them to sound great. They are being pushed with hegel h590. blusesound vault running through a mytek brooklyn plus Thanks for any input