Need Recommendations for a pair of Speakers around $1,000

I appreciate the suggestions here even more because no one has anything to gain by offering an opinion.

most people recommend what they own, so there are all sorts of psychological influences that may not be as nefarious as a saleman looking for a commission… but it does not make the suggestions here automatically better.

OK, you have a fairly large room. But the main part of that equation is where will you be sitting when you are doing your listening? How far away will you be from the speakers?

Small bookshelf speakers can play loud but they’ll never sound "large" or "scale" (in general - I know there are some exceptions). But if you want scale, you should probably go with floorstanders, and even then, at $1000 for two speakers your choices will be limited.

Even in a large room if you are sitting no more than 10 feet or so away, you might get by with bookshelf speakers, and later add a subwoofer.

I note that the Polk R700 are on "sale" now as of 5-16-2022 for $899 each. Yeah, that is nearly double your budget, but in the long run you might be happier with larger speakers in that room if you can stretch your budget, plus you might not need a sub (at an extra expense) down the road.

Good luck. Oh, I looked up the Adcom GFA-545 at hifiengine. I could only find it specified to output 100W/channel at 8Ω.  Make sure it will be happy driving lower impedance speakers.  6Ω might be OK, but 4Ω (unless it is OK with that) might be harder, and many 4Ω can dip even lower at certain frequencies.

I have a few options with distance.

We have hardwood floors and our furniture sits on small pads so they can be easily moved to vacuum. I can slide the small recliner to the center of the LR anywhere from 5' - 15' from the speakers.

Otherwise the recliner built into the sectional couch is about 19' from the speakers.

The manual on the 545 states that it has the "ability to drive very low impedance loads" which isn't very specific but I don't see 4 ohms as an issue and I don't listen to music at ear bleeding levels.

Massive upvote to @danager - The Lii Audio F15 is worthy of in-depth consideration. I ordered an F15 pair directly from the manufacturer. Got em on sale for $399...that is still the price on the site. This gives you plenty of leftover money to build your own baffles or have a woodworker crank some out.

My living room is 14x16 and these drivers fill the space with the most detailed and airy soundstage. When I listen to An American Place, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, I can hear every instrument in its own space. Runs by the flute section move left to right and back across the right half the room. Timpani and gong hits come from a place deep in the concert hall....it’s almost like a massive worm hole opens up behind these drivers and the sound is transported directly from the Barbican Centre in London. Vocals, guitars, drums, modern, old, etc....everything I put through these gems transports me to the time and place of the recording.

Lii Audio sent me a complementary F6 pair as a gift for dealing with supply chain delays. For kicks, I set them up as a center channel...I might be onto something.

You can order the drivers directly from Lii Audio and baffles from Caintuck. Decware sells finished versions of this speaker starting at $3,400...the diy route will allow you to have a 3k+ speaker for close to your 1k budget.

Also, you can do what I did...just order the drivers to start. Rig them up to listening height and just see what happens. I put mine on a couple dining room chairs and propped them up with some books. Took a little tweaking, but the sweet spot wasn't hard to find. If you like them, move forward with the diy. If you are instantly captivated, sell them. Hell, I’d probably buy them from you for the right price ;)

Good luck

PS don’t listen to the full range driver haters. Most of em can’t even hear the hertz that are missing. I’ll gladly sacrifice all my dog whistle recordings to have highs and lows emanate from the same place.

Thanks BrianJM1 but I have grandchildren that come over and can't risk having that type of speaker. Too much is exposed....and kids are curious. LOL