THE BEST SMALL SPEAKERS

Coincident Triumphs are a good choice.

Castle "Isis" (discontinued) continue to be the favorite of a local Castle dealer. I don't know if you'll ever find a used pair of Verity Audio Encore "Monitor" satellites (these are the top 1/2 of the Encores), but they have the best midrange of ANYTHING I've heard, and actually roll off smoother in the upper bass than when mated to their woofer basses! They list for an unfortunate $5600, but if you can find a pair of demos/used in the $3k range give them a VERY serious listen! I'm continually stunned that a 5" piston midrange can sound that quick 'n natural! Sonus Faber is a good bet; B&W CDM1 or Pro-Ac Tablet 50 for lower rez. Good Luck, and happiest holidays.

"Best" is always subjective and depends heavily on the price range you are looking at. If price is no object you should try to find a pair of B&W JB Silver Signatures to audition. They are the best "small" speakers I have ever heard, and they have good bass extension (for their size) and interesting looks. Getting hard to find these days though; I've seen a couple of used pairs selling for around $5k over the past year or two. If your budget is more limited, B&W makes several cheaper though still fine sounding small speakers at various price breaks. For $2k (pair), you might also want to check out the Dunlavy SM-1; I have used this speaker for the past year and found it to have good sound (fast & detailed) and satisfying bass for its price and size, but it might be a little bigger than you are looking for. For the price, Paradigm Refs sounded pretty damn good to me too. Finally, if you want to go very small and very cheap, I think the NHT Super Zeros (and One's) give the best bang for the buck. The larger NHT 1.5's also make a nice bookshelf. Happy shopping

I nominate Tannoy System 10 DMT, System 10 DMT II, or System 1000. Only the last of these is a current model, though they're all close to identical. Sold only in pro audio shops (they're professional studio monitors). Dual concentric drivers, around 93 dB sensitivity with high power handling, 42 Hz-25 kHz freq. response; approximately the dimensions you indicated; unforgivingly neutral sound; exceptional dynamics. I use the System 12 DMT (2 x 1 x 1 ft., so too big for your purposes), and am saving up for the System 15 DMT II, but unlike many smaller speakers, the 10-in. are of equal quality to the 12" and 15". Good with solid state or tubes.

B&W 805 and matching sub - matrix 800 series if you are looking for used or Nautilus if new (both sound excellent). They aren't cheap but will give you what you are looking for.