I do as you do most of the time, using monitors with a pair of REL Stadium subs. Lately I have been using my Spendor S 100s, which are a full range system and am still using the subs with them. I think you would have to go above $15000 [new] to get a speaker that gives an advantage over monitors and subs. There you would probably get a more coherent sound due to the system being simpler, however the main speakers would have to be quite large and might not work in a small room, it is easier to make the monitor/sub system work in these cases.
REL B3 and monitors vs full-range
I moved to a loft where my Dynaudio 1.3SEs sounded a little lost, and shopped around for a good pair of full-range speakers. It seemed like I would have to spend $6k to get the detail I like of the 1.3SE in something with loft-scale bass. In the end I just ended up adding a sub, a REL britannia B3. It's been six months and I'm still astonished when I listen. I don't really notice the sub directly, there's just way more there there. What am I missing with the monitors+sub combination that I'd have gotten with a good fullrange pair?
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