Here are some recommendations of speakers I've heard at audio shows or have consistently great reviews. Some are sigificantly under $20K.
Dynaudio Contour 60: These did everything right. Goreous sound.
Goldenear Triton Reference: To my ears these sound about as good as any 6 figure speaker you can find.
Revel Ultima Salon: I haven't heard these but they are widely considered to be one of the best sounding speakers ever made. They turn up on the used market fairly often.
Joseph Audio Perspective 2: These sounded good from the moment I entered the room and got better when I sat in the sweet spot.
Paradign Persona 5F: They did everything well.
Rosso Fiorentino Fiesole II: These sounded amazing. I would love to hear the next model up - the Volterra.
One of my main conclusions from attending a few audio shows is that the price of speakers and their performance are not well correlated. I think somewhere around $20K is the sweet spot and it seems to take multiples of that figure to see a big improvement in sound. The MBL 101E Mk II sounds incredible but it is $90k. I think the best speaker I've heard is the Von Schweikert Ultra 11 which costs over $300k. There are a whole bunch of wonderful sounding speakers in the $20k range.