Speaker recommendations welcomed

After for years being an almost lone voice in recommending the Eminent Technology LFT-8b, it’s great to be joined by others.

But that recommendation is dependent on a number of factors, ones that make the recommendation non-universal. Not everyone likes planar loudspeakers, or dipoles. And planars are not appropriate for all rooms, or all systems (ones for instance with very low power amps). So my recommendation of the LFT-8b has always been offered to those who are considering Magnepans, or even electrostatics. One listener who considers the ET LFT-8b (and 8c) superior to all Magnepans and electrostatics he has heard is Steve Guttenberg (The Audiophiliac). Not everyone agrees with him about that, so my recommendation is not to buy a pair of the ET’s, but just to look into them.

The LFT-8b meets a number of the op’s requirements. It’s under $5000, is not a bookshelf speaker, has a non-aggressive tweeter, and images well (in planar/dipole fashion).

ATC SCM 40a is another option if u care to check out speakers with a built in amplifier. In my opinion they sounded natural. Magnepan is also good for their imaging.

Love the Revel Performa recommendations, and I will also get behind that! I currently have Revel’s in my main system after having been through so many over the years….

I will also throw out Dynaudio Evoke 50’s. The Dynaudio sound is wildly addictive. Just keep in mind you’ll want to really give them some good, clean power to get their best…

Enjoy the journey and good luck!

You didn’t mention how big your room is, and whether you can pull speakers 3 feet to 5 feet out into it while listening to music or how far you will be from them in your listening position. You didn’t mention whether you listen loud, medium, or at lower levels. Some speakers don’t "come alive" until you get them into the 82 or higher dB range while others can excel at lower volumes. What you get should cover what your listening bases are and whether or not you are a bass head. Good luck. 

@hk_fan Major or core sound system components (e.g.  speakers and amplification source) should be matched or compatible with one another in order to achieve optimum sound quality.  I would recommend that you consider this in your shopping expedition.  The recommendations you are and will be getting here are basically individual preferences, in general.  The dimensions and acoustic properties of your sound room, speaker placement within a room, etc. are also major factors in speaker and component selection, not to mention the type of music you like.  Lastly, the most important factor is your own ears.  What sounds great to Joe Blow may not necessarily sound the best to you.  There are many great choices in your budget range.  Many have been mentioned here but there are many others, as well.