Why not go for beautiful looks, at least to me, and build quality. Buy a pair of Tannoy Legacy or Prestige speakers. Their speakers look bespoke, will be a heirloom, and you are buying into the history of one of the oldest, if not the oldest speaker manufacturer. Pride of ownership means a lot to me. I feel the same about owning my Sugden class A.
No frills speaker manufacturers
What are some speaker companies that put all or most of their build budget into parts and design function and none or hardly none into aesthetic? If there was no wife acceptance factor and you didn't give a hoot about how they look what speakers would you buy?