under $300 bookshelfs: does excitement exist?

Forget about the new, lower end Epos that goes for 2 and change, I would vouch for a used Epos ES11 between 3-400. That partnered with excellent amplification can give exquisite results for the money spentExcitement is to be had at 3 and a little more, for sure.

B&W 600 series 3 is around $300 with dealer discount. Kevlar is a lighter, faster better driver than the 303's carbon fiber. But it depends or listening preference I suppose.
I like www.creativesound.ca elf 1.5's for $125/pair. Different but in some ways much better than B&W since it is a single driver design.

Cdc: I'm always on the lookout for fun new cheapies, tell me more about the elfs please. Thanks.

They are better than the Mission speakers that come with the Denon UD-M31 mini-system. On Sade's "Is it a crime" they have outstanding balance between cymbals and sax. The Tang-Band W3-871's are MUCH flatter than any Cain&Cain etc. single driver speaker recently reviewed in Stereophile. Like +/-2dB from 100 to 10K. +/-3dB from 10k to 20k.
On studio mixed music, B&W is very good but on acoustic music the "rightness" of these single driver speakers is way better than B&W. You loose high volume levels since they are paper and maybe dynamic punch too vs. B&W.
I spoke with the designer and he said these $125 ELF 1.5's are very close in performance to his JordanJX92's which he also did a design. Maybe in some ways better since the Jordans have a rising response curve and can get bright. ALl I can say is a lot of people can get unhappy with even $2,000 speakers but if you can live with lower volume levels and limited bass (I put mine on the mantle up against the wall so bass is good to 40hz) they make me question why spend more/ do I really need to.
NOTE: the second driver is only to give bass boost with no phase shifts etc. So this is a TRUE single driver design.

Swan Diva M200 - comes with 36 watts/ch built in - good for computer as well - and looks good too for $250 online.