Jane,
Take a moment to visit a local Guitar (music) store. Audition some active speakers in their home studio setup and see if you find something you like. A lot of musicians use these type compact speakers with Mac's and PC's. They will not have the models you mentioned but you will find a great variety of compact systems - typically they carry a dozen "monitor" brands such as KRK, Dynaudio, Genelec, Adam, Focal, NHT in prices ranging from a few hundred to around $4500 for a pair of the Genelec 8050A (which is simply awesome). Remember this includes the amp which is built into the speakers...so you could even consider the Genelecs on your budget.
To me when you buy gear it should be a no brainer - i.e. you should just absolutely love the sound...there should be no question or doubt. Reading between the lines, I just don't get the impression that you are all that enamoured with anything you have heard so far... and playing one speaker against one other speaker is not likely to get the optimum equipment for your tastes (just the better of two speakers - obviously). You may also find a less structured sales pressured enviroment for listening especially if you find a young musician working in the store to help you out and you bring your own CD's. Just a thought even if you simply use it as another data point...
Take a moment to visit a local Guitar (music) store. Audition some active speakers in their home studio setup and see if you find something you like. A lot of musicians use these type compact speakers with Mac's and PC's. They will not have the models you mentioned but you will find a great variety of compact systems - typically they carry a dozen "monitor" brands such as KRK, Dynaudio, Genelec, Adam, Focal, NHT in prices ranging from a few hundred to around $4500 for a pair of the Genelec 8050A (which is simply awesome). Remember this includes the amp which is built into the speakers...so you could even consider the Genelecs on your budget.
To me when you buy gear it should be a no brainer - i.e. you should just absolutely love the sound...there should be no question or doubt. Reading between the lines, I just don't get the impression that you are all that enamoured with anything you have heard so far... and playing one speaker against one other speaker is not likely to get the optimum equipment for your tastes (just the better of two speakers - obviously). You may also find a less structured sales pressured enviroment for listening especially if you find a young musician working in the store to help you out and you bring your own CD's. Just a thought even if you simply use it as another data point...