Many of the new inexpensive commercial designs are very good unlike in years past, only heard the new ELAC speakers very briefly but was impressed at what they did.
That said you can also find some superb kits for around $300 in parts if you are willing to build your own cabs or get some fabricated and do the solder yourself. I am a huge fan of Jeff Bagby's designs, will probably build a set of Continuums this fall which are really highly regarded for vocal reproduction.
I have built many TABAQ's (funky one below) which can have a beguiling ease and do have impressive bass. That said you make the tradeoff in driver selection of airy highs or deep lows, no one driver is a magic bullet here and they run out of steam quick as you push up SPLs.
My reference speakers are very revealing and the IDA-16 paired well in a brief introduction with them, I'd guess with people saying the IDA-8 tends towards more warmth you wouldn't want anything on the forgiving side as mentioned if you want detail to come through.