check craigslist in the US for cheap speakers

$150 gives you plenty of options, but I would add both the paradigm atom and mini-monitors to your list if there is a dealer nearby where you can give them a listen.  Great little cdn company that gives good value for the buck.

I also agree with the previous poster, almost every one of the 40+ speakers in my growing collection (yeah, my wife thinks I'm nuts) has been acquired used.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaudlyDamage 

Used is defiantly the way to go but Vermont craigslist is barren O _ O

No, you just have to look carefully:

http://burlington.craigslist.org/ele/2104564618.html

Offer the guy $50 - that's a fair price. $175 is just insane though.  My dad's got a pair; they sound pretty good - great for the price.  They're the little brothers of the widely hailed Monitor 7 speakers (which we both have).  Replacement parts are easy to find if they ever need 'em.

That leaves you $100 to find an amp - a very reasonable budget.  You could look at used receivers, integrated amps, or amps (with gain controls if you don't otherwise have them on your DAC) - or perhaps a new T-amp.  There's a lot of choices out there, although personally I would shy away from '70s vintage or older receivers that haven't been serviced - unless it's a Marantz, McIntosh, or similar at a good price.  '80s and '90s solid state gear is generally very reliable in comparison, with much newer capacitors and better. cleaner pots.  NAD, Carver, and Adcom would be my personal value favorites.

Well, I should've mentioned that I had these on my desk for a while:

I've got different standards, though...

You could fit those Polks an a desk if you've got a big enough one, but I can understand if you can't.  I was going to buy them off my dad for that reason, but mine has a shelf that essentially limits me to 20" tall speakers.  Those Klipsches (KG 2) are a whole lot bigger, but just short enough to fit.

Used quality bookshelf speakers are a bit harder to find than floorstanders, especially on Craigslist.

I'd probably go with M-Audio AV 40 powered monitors from Amazon (or Guitar Center) then - they're right at your $150 budget.

I would say though that thread would probably have been better off in the computer audio forum if that is your intended use for these.  At least then we would've had an idea of what you were looking for.

For that budget i would recommend active speakers, like the M-Audio AV 40 or the edifier 2.0 studio range.