Please allow me to stir the pot a little.......A year ago I was in the OP's position....I wanted a set of floor-standing speakers, new, for <$500. I didn't much like what I heard at BB, there was nothing on Craig's List, and I didn't trust the auction site. Searching the web, I found the Fluance site. The XL7f were $500 a pair with free shipping. Reviews were decent, the Pictures looked nice, and they came with a 30 day money back guarantee, along with a lifetime warranty. I bought them. They arrived a few days before Christmas. I set them up and have been listening to them ever since. Some of my conclusions:
Very nice looking, good construction. Very high WAF. Bi-ampable. Clean, decent sound, especially for HT. Not very efficient. They need a lot more power than their price point would indicate. Rear bass porting and the downward firing woofer require careful placement. All in all, not a bad speaker for the price, and I assume that anything else in it's price range will have other strengths/ weakness. I wish I had the chance to listen to them before I purchased them.....But there are trade offs for everything.....If the OP could increase his budget by couple of hundred bucks there are worlds of (possibly better) choices out there.....my opinion FWIW.
KJR