Speakers free of grain, glare and steel?

I spent 3 days recently listening to Reference 3A MM deCapo's and was totally impressed with the sound, especially in a less than ideal room. Used they are in your price range. There is even a pair listed here right now. Outside of that a set of Spendor Classic series like the 1/2e should qualify.

As for Spendor:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1311716711&/Spendor-SP-1/2-classic-british

While these are older and may not be cosmetically perfect, the price is great and they come with the Sound Anchor stands. Otherwise look to pay anywhere from $1200 - $2000 for a used pair of 1/2 or 1/2e models. Even you are more patient a pair of 9/1 floor standers show up occasionally on here in your price range.

If you want some good information on Harbeth and Spendor try here:http://www.regonaudio.com/. Also, here is a Spendor 1/2 review I found to be quite a good read: http://www.electrafidelity.com/spendor-12-by-herb-reichert/.

I can't speak to Hareth as much, or the post classic series Spendors, but what I can tell you is the three pair of classic series I have owned all had outstanding mid-range and smooth top end. Are they the last word in bass, no, but you'd be surprised how good the bass is if you could focus your attention away from the mid-range long enough to listen to it more closely.

Some say Spendor speakers, especially the older ones, are polite. I say they look polite but are quite naughty actually;) Looks are deceiving and so is the Spendor sound. In my experience they are more neutral than Harbeth or most of the British boxes out there. Used prices make them are bargain.

Don't let your solid state amps dissuade you from Merlin or any other brand. Case in point, I am in the minority when I say I preferred solid state amps with my Spendor speakers rather than tubes. However, the combination worked fine and I'd gladly do it again. If Merlin interests you call Bobby and ask him what works best with his speakers and whether your amps would be suitable. He's a straight shooter.

IMO and in my system high-hats and brushes sound like they should with the Spendor speakers I've owned. In reality they will only sound as good as what your upstream components can deliver to your speakers, your amps in particular. The Spendor's are pretty neutral, so they're not going to get in the way as much as say some electronic components might. As for overly polite, I don't think so. These speakers can rock if they have too. I've played mine loud with rock and alternative music and they chugged along just fine.

The Fritz Carbon 7's are very nice speakers. I had a chance to listen to them for a few days.

I miss Sean. His posts were always worth reading.

I've heard the Merlin and the Fritz speakers. I think you'd be happy with either, but with your amp I would lean toward the Fritz Carbon 7.

You have a nice system, including the speakers. I spent some time listening to Silverline speakers at THE SHOW in Newport. I liked them.

I am familiar with your amp and as Jdoris said Fritz runs these at shows with the Modwright amps. At THE SHOW in Las Vegas we had a room and Fritz lent us the Carbon 7's. We ran them with a 60 watt tube amp and they sounded very good. I suspect though they might like a bit more power and your amp can certainly provide it.

The Carbon 7's are underrated. They are worth a listen.