I have had speakers from B&W, Magnepan, Spica, Spendor, and Paradigm.

I like all of them except B&W, which I found too revealing,
particularly on female vocals, both pop and opera.

I'd shop for whatever's in your price range from these manufacturers.
The ones I've lived with longest are Maggies and Paradigms.

The most important thing: MAKE SURE YOU CAN RETURN ANY PIECE OF
EQUIPMENT FOR A FULL REFUND IF YOU DON'T LIKE HOW IT SOUNDS IN YOUR
HOME WITHIN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME.

Bruce gave you specific advice about Paradigms in your price range.
And Joe about Magnepans. Each of them has given you good advice.

(P and C) wrote in message ...
I hope I'm not being presumptuous by posting my question here, but I
didn't find a rec.audio.mid-end and the other rec.audio.* groups don't
appear to have much hi-fi discussion.

I am looking for a pair of speakers in the range of $1,000-$1,500. I
will only be using these for stereo music only, as I am now building a
dedicated system for music. What is the best pair of speakers you can
get for this much dough?

I don't live near a major city so I'm limited by what I can audition.
I have to be selective to avoid doing a lot of driving That is why
I'm asking all the experts here for recommendations

I have listened so far to the Mirage OMNI 260, and Martin Logans
Scenarios ($2,000 speakers reduced to $1,200 for clearance).

I found the imaging of the Mirage not as focused as I am used to,
probably as a result of its omnipolar tweeter technology.

There was a slight set up problem with the Martin Logans so I didn't
get a good chance to listen to them properly. However, they didn't
immediately grab my attention but I probably need to give them more
listening time.

Other speakers I'm considering right now are Joseph Audio RM7s (a
little outside of my budget, but hey, no harm in listening to them,
right?), and perhaps Paradigm.

I listened mostly to vocals accompanied by orchestra (Sarah Brightman,
Charlotte Church), jazz vocals with accompaniment (Diana Krall, Jane
Monheit - so ability to reproduce jazz piano accurately and a dynamic
bass (for the double-bass) are important attributes). Needless to
say, natural sounding voice is of paramount importance.

I also listen to some classical piano and classical orchestra.

I would appreciate any recommendations you guys have and what
amplification you think would make a good pairing. Thanks for any
feedback you can give.

Cheers.