Recommendation on soft dome bookshelfs under $1K

Does it even matter if he's listening to tapes? I agree with above post. Spread your 1k out on more than just speakers.

Used mid to high end speakers at 1K a pair should not be a problem. Take a look at the Dynaudio X16 or Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grands. Both have soft dome tweeters and 6.5' drivers and could be found used at or around 1K. Very musical. They are 4 Ohm speakers though with sensivity in the mid to high 80's so your older receiver could be a problem unless it is a high powered model.

It may help the forum if we knew what model receiver you have as many of the speakers using the drivers that you want are of lower impedence and sensitivity. Hope this helps.

Polk lsi 9 around 700 on Polk Ebay

There is a reason the price continues to increase on vintage solid state equipment, many people like the sound. However, there is a trick to matching these amplifiers and receivers to current day speakers. Therefore, it would be nice to know exactly which receiver is being used in order to give a recommendation.

"There are plenty of vintage receivers from the heyday that would easily handle anything the modern speaker market has to offer."

Handle, yes. Bring out the best? Not likely, though some vintage receivers might do quite well with most any modern speaker.

Amplification has come a long way since the heyday of vintage receivers to enable the most out of many modern speakers.

Most receivers, and even many or most integrated, vintage or modern, do not have robust enough power supplies and current delivery capabilities to bring out the best in most (not all) modern speakers.

In general, they will work best with monitors or other designs that do not go much lower than 50-60 hz. Power and current delivery becomes a much more significant factor if attempting to deliver the lowest frequencies with speakers designed to be run of most SS amplification gear.