Attended the Florida Audio Expo in Tampa this February-- while it’s no AXPONA, the number and quality of manufacturers represented was still impressive. There’s actually a number of good threads here on Audiogon with impressions from the show. If you’ve got a spare $230,000 laying about, by all means pick up a pair of the Acora VRCs, they were absolute knockouts, lol.
In the $20k range there are a large number of excellent choices; I think personal preferences, room size/acoustics, type of music most frequently listened to, etc. are important considerations, and I think regardless of the limitations imposed by the lack of ideal room conditions, etc., you will come away from the show with your own list of possible choices.
I’ll approach this a little different than some of the responses above-- looking at value per dollar, these were the speakers that stood out to me:
Q Acoustics Concept 50. Dollar for dollar, the most impressive little floor stander I’ve heard. Seriously, I went back to this room several times just to recheck my impression. These diminutive, $3000/pair speakers were to me one of the stars of the show. Easily matched or exceeded sound quality of speakers 5 times their price. Most definitely at least worth a look. If you’re a basshead, you’ll need a couple of good subs to go with them, but for a small to medium sized room, I think they’ll stand surprisingly well on their own.
MoFi Electronics Sourcepoint 10. Another seriously good speaker for not a lot of $. About $4500/pair with stands.
Eminent Technology DSP Open Baffle-- get an entire setup for $15k
Volti Razz - if you’re "horn-y"
Soundfield Audio Monitor 1-- lots of compliments for a $2200 monitor, with surprisingly good bass.
On the more expensive, but still within reach of your $20k cap:
Joseph Audio Pulsar
Monitor Audio Platinum 300series
List prices a little above $20k, but still in the ballpark:
Focal Sopra #3
Sonus Faber Amati Tradition
Von Schweikert Endeavor SE-- these were probably my favorite "achievable" speaker (i.e. not 6 figures $$$). Outstanding musicality. I just loved the sound of these.
You might also consider looking at some used options-- I found some Wilson Watt/Puppy 8’s in almost unused condition for $7,200. I know lots of people like to bash on Wilsons, and I’d probably join them if I had to pay $28,000 for them, but for $7k, they are absolutely awesome.
