If you can locate the speakers out in the room 3ft or more from the back wall, a 2X8" 3-way tower would work. If you have to place them closer to the rear walls, id consider a 2X6" 3-way design. I prefer dual ports for tunability via port-plugs, and rear mounting for most efficient room loading, although bottom mounted ports on an elevated plinth can work very well. Within those parameters there a lot of choices. I'd avoid anything over 10 years old or from out-of-business manufacturers simply for serviceability reasons. In your price range and to my ears, Monitor Audio, KEF, Sonus Faber, and Revel all make exceptional products, with nods to Golden Ear and Sourcepoint for their unique takes. All of these represent great values as well. And of course everyone should own a pair of Magnepans at some point, provided you have the requisite 100W/ch high current amp and a Maggie-friendly room.
Finally comes your specific tastes, both in sound quality and esthetics, not to mention SAF. So you really have to listen to as many as you can, do your research, and know what matters most to you. For me, image and soundstage, dynamics, bass control are all critical, but if the speaker has all those and makes human voice muddy, boomy, honky, or nasal, dead stop, nope.
Most importantly, enjoy the process. And when you finally decide, enjoy the music.