I think these Mission Elegante e81s might do them for you, given the types of music you listen to. One of the forum members, KBK, actually recommended them to me before & I came close to getting them, until my budget - almost against my will - went up. (I also listen mostly to classical & jazz.)

Excellent value, too, @ $499, as they retail for $1249. I did some research on these & they're known for going really loud & deep. They're rated at 90db, 8 ohms impedance: pretty damn phenomenal for the price... means even a lot of the lower-output amps can rock on these things. I don't think you can lose.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1204506567

Hm, those Missions are listed as having: Frequency Response: (+/- 3dB) 80Hz-30kHz. I would go for something with more bass foundation for listening to rock and metal. How about these: http://www.audioadvisor.com/images/Athena_LS_LIFEM.jpg

The girl is cute, but I'm not sure how good the speaker is. Quite honestly though, I don't know if you can get a good full range speaker (new) for $500. I'd say you would probably have to triple your budget before possibilities start opening up. If you can raise your budget to $800 and you don't mind used, you may like the NHT 2.9

Quote:
The girl is cute,

My favorite Audio Advisor girl, but she does not seem to be available as a system tweak.

Paradigm Titan Monitors $500/pair
Triangle Titus ES $479/pair
PSB Image B25 $450/pair
Klipsch RB-61 $450/pair
Monitor Audio BR2 $400/pair
Human 81 $400/pair

Quote:

Quote:
The girl is cute,

My favorite Audio Advisor girl, but she does not seem to be available as a system tweak.

Maybe you don't have the right tools.

Quote:
Maybe you don't have the right tools.

I'm sure he has "the right tools"...maybe they're just old and rusty, like mine.