Your advice appreciated: Bookshelf Speakers for my Conrad Johnson CAV45-S2

The  NHT C1 would work well and fit your budget. You can purchase these on Amazon with easy return if the don’t work for you.

Monolith 28 Inch Speaker Stand x 2 ($180) plus

1. ELAC Debut 3.0 DB63 ($499; amazon) - if you can pull the speakers out at least 3 ft away from the front wall (to the rear ports);  Erin recommends it.

2. ELAC DBR62 ($665, like new; or $799, new returnable from amazon)

These speakers should give you refined tonal balance incl. satisfactory in-room bass that gets down to 40hz -3dB.  Also, based on my experience with DB62, pairing with amp is quite influential to the sound.  Not about the wattage but the quality of the amplification.

dwest, lanx - Thank you! I'm researching these now.