I bought a pair os Paradigm Studio100 v4 about 16 months ago for $2500 USD. Give them a listen if they are available. I had a pair of La Scalas,(Klipsch) for about 15 years and loved them, but the Paradigms suit me very well.

+1

Definitely have your friend audition the Parardigms,as Shade suggested. Near-full-range, performance well above their price point, and the tweeter from Signature V.1

You might want to consider the Usher brand speakers, as in your part of the woods, like the Krix, they become financially efficient. They are known to be quite decent speakers. I'm sure you'll be able to find an Usher dealer to get a chance to listen.

Yep. exactly as I expected. A good deal in Australia.

http://www.usheraudio.com.au/speakers/speakers/v604.html

World class, MTM type (midbass-tweeter-midbass) floorstander...$2k. It doesn't get much better than that. MTM's also play loud..and clean. Distortion is halved with two drivers, and at below certain frequencies.. a certain 'pseudo' woofer is very slightly 'breathed' into existence, via proximity coupling of the drivers. The two woofers also prevent the onset of specific distortions as they are being driven at half load. Or, you could say they play 6db louder, before running into the same types of distortions as a single woofer application (of similar size). Two woofers of a smaller size also go up higher in frequency before getting into generating distortions, which simplifies crossover design, which allows more music through. Bass is slightly more extended than one would think, transients are cleaner and more defined, bringing the impression of bass and dynamics, along with definition of separate notes,and their integration, and the maximum output is decently high, with a true 7" pair of woofers of decent build..getting you to clean dynamic 'peak' (transient, floor tom, snare, etc) capacity of approximately 112-114 db. Which when delivered cleanly, with low distortion, sounds faster and more alive, and most importantly louder..than what can be done with a single driver. This also means, when attempting to do the audiophile listening perfection thing, the volume can be a bit louder than you'd expect..and then you get your slammin' tunes and your imaging, depth, speed, etc..all at the same time.

If the crossover is well done, the radiation pattern evenly loads the room, so that it sound coherent and balanced when you are listening outside of the room, as well.

These are the sort of reasons I almost exclusively only make MTM designs.

Magnepan 1.6QR might be within that price range over there. They have soundstaging, both width and depth like virtually nothing else. Very 3-D, timber is also very accurate. Bass while not plentiful, is tonally accurate and fast. Just make sure that you have an amp that is capable of running them.

I was afraid that might be the case.

Vandersteen 2Ce Signature II with stands.

Vandersteen 2Ce Signature II with stands are $2345 in the USA. That's $2448 Australian, don't know how much it costs to make them available downunder. The Vandersteen distributor in Australia is Sound Reference, 18 Caxton St. Petrie Ter. Brisbane, QLD.4000, 7 3368 3566.

Jackfish-

US audio products are roughly between two to three times more expensive oversees than they are in the America if a given manufacturer uses a local company as an importer. This is accounted for by shipping, import costs, local marketing, etc., and of course importer profit.

. . . and you thought the stuff was expensive here!

Why then are non-US products imported to the US so affordable?

The dollar is weak and all of the same costs apply?

(No argument, just curious)

Elk-

The reasons are going to vary from company to company. Since the US is such a large market many companies have set up subsidiaries here that import their goods instead of using a traditional third-party importer. Also our tariffs are lower than many other countries, and there is less necessary bribery. Then of course because labor is so expensive here even with tariffs taken into account foreign goods are often cheaper. Many US importers also operate in a much more ethical way and take a lot less profit then their overseas counterparts.

When I was in college I had an Adcom GFA5802, about a $2,000 amp designed by Nelson Pass. A friend of mine was dating a exchange student from Japan, who was a great pianist. When she came over to hang out she saw it and asked me how I was able to afford such things. I told her that I got a discount because I worked at an electronics store part time and I saved for it. But I didn't think anything else of it. Over the next 6 months it became clear that Hidiko (sp?) believed that my family was wealthy. One night when there was lots of kidding around I asked her why she thought my family was wealthy. Her response was "Well, right now we're listining to a $6,000 amp. My father has wanted that one for years." I told her that it was only $2,000 in the US. To which she said, "It must be like US car pricing in Japan."

Others that know more about the subject should also add their thoughts too. My knowledge with respect to importing/exporting of audio goods is far from exhaustive.

Great info and story.

When I lived with a master of Japanese pottery I learned that one of the best gifts an American could present to a Japanese man was a bottle of good bourbon. The prices in Japan were astronomical and they additionally appreciated that I knew both this and that bourbon was a hot item at the time.