are you talking new or used? the best sub $3000 speaker used are, in my opinion, the gershman avant garde rx-20 speakers. there are 2 pair right now going for $2000 which is an absolute steal. i bought mine about 3 years ago for $2800 after shipping and duties from a canadian a'gon member. before purchasing the avant gardes, i listened to thiel cs2.3, martin logan aeons and ascents, revel f30, von schweikert vr-4 gen. III, and some nht evolutions (don't remember the exact model). the gershman's shamed them all. their bass is very deep for using a single 8" bass driver. specs claim down to 24 Hz and you can definitely feel it in your chest. out of my audition list, i'd say the top three i listened to are:
gershman avant gardes
thiel cs2.3
martin logan aeons
granted, none of these speakers are "current" as they've been out for a while (the thiels and ml's have already been replaced or improved upon). just my 2 cents.
gershman avant gardes
thiel cs2.3
martin logan aeons
granted, none of these speakers are "current" as they've been out for a while (the thiels and ml's have already been replaced or improved upon). just my 2 cents.