Looking to upgrade my mains, must be floor-standing and look good

These Wharfedale's are hard to beat. A little over budget

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-15494-wharfedale-diamond-107-tower-speakers-pr.aspx

Do you just want nice clean looking speakers or do you want fancy finished speakers (basic finish but done nice like black oak vinyl or fancy rosewood/cherry finishes) ?

My Arx A5 towers are nice looking speakers and sound great. They are black ash vinyl with a satin bass with cast alloy drivers and tweeter face plate. http://www.theaudioinsider.com/product_info.php?p=arx-a5-floorstanding-loudspeaker&products_id=227& Money went into making them sound great over fancy looks.

Heres some that fall within your budget and some get recommended quite alot on AVS and some other forums.
http://www.htd.com/Products/level-three-speakers/Level-THREE-Tower-Speakers
http://www.emptek.com/e55ti.php
http://www.aperionaudio.com/speakers/intimus-family/intimus-5t-tower-speaker
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/FOCAL814V/FOCAL-Chorus-814V-716v-Dual-6-Floorstanding-Speakers-Gloss-Black-Pair/1.html
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MRBBX6
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PBIMT5

When a question such as yours is asked, you will often hear recommendations about what someone already has or what someone wants. Whats important though is finding what is best for you. With speakers, this requires some work from you too. Because besides wanting towers and what you have now, we don't know anything else.

What kind of sound and aesthetic are you looking for? There are dozens and dozens to choose from at around $1000 pair with all kinds of driver configurations, designs and finishes. I believe your Bostons are a vintage floor standing 3 way with a soft dome tweeter. Do you like they way they sound? Are you wanting to replicate the same sound in a more current model? If so, we can recommend several towers that have this type of high frequency driver. Tweeters come in all different types - soft fabric domes, metal domes, ribbons, compression horns, etc and they all sound different. Do you like the finish on the Bostons and are you looking for a similar finish? Or is Black Ash sufficient to satisfy your design aesthetic? How about a High Gloss Piano Black? Then there are the traditional wood finishes like Cherry, Walnut, Rosewood available in both vinyl or furniture grade veneers. At $1k pair, it wouldn't be hard to zero in on something that meets your requirements to all these questions. But we need the answers to make the recommendations to find the best speaker for you.

Thanks, you gave us a lot more to work with. If the Bostons sound flat, you are probably a fan of a more lively, forward sound. Soft dome designs may be a little too laid back for you. The Focal 814v that were recommended would be a good choice. Their piano black finish is definitely contemporary if not downright sexy. I would think bachelor pad for sure. If you get a chance to audition Focal Chorus series speakers, either 700 or 800 series, do so.

Not familar with Zingali but I googled them and they look like horn speakers. Since you liked their sound, better put the very popular Klipsch Reference series on you list and listen to them. The RF62ii have a list of $1000K pair and come in Black or Cherry. If you can bump up your budget, also check out Monitor Audio RX6's at $1250 pair. Metal dome tweeters and a varierty of finishes, Rosewood included. The lesser Bronz BX-6 was also recommended and should be in your wheelhouse. You now have three very well known brands to hunt down and audition. Have fun and good luck.

These Polks are very large, have a lively top end, and pretty good bass response.

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Floorstanding-Speaker-Single/dp/B000V2SEXW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357090478&sr=8-2&keywords=rti+a9

I would also add PSB and Paradigm for you to audition, has some nice top end sizzle without the harshness. Paradigm Monitor 9s should fall within your budget as well as the PSB Imagines (I think).

Focal Chorus and Monitor Audio Silver RX6, are 2 nice options > and are good
http://www.soundadvice.com/Monitor-Audio-Silver-Series-Floorstanding-Speakers-RX6-Priced-Per-Pair-P1244.aspx

Every once in a while you will see someone selling some Onix Rockets on the classifieds forum (the company went out of business). I really like their Brazilian Rosewood finish and they would likely fit in your budget. It looks like there are plenty of pictures on google for you to take a look (LINKY).

Energy RC 70s?

fwiw,just a small suggestion , if you do end up with the focal 814 from ac4L ( imo, great value for some great sounding and looking speakers) i would purchace the matching center channel as these are a discontinued model and the center might not be around for to long and once they sell out could be difficult to locate one later when you go to put in your new homes cinema room.purchacing it now still keeps you in your budget. just something to think about. good luck on the crazy journey of new speaker buying. my only advice would try to listen to as many speakers as you can in your budget to see and hear what "you" like. then make a short list and go from there or you will get to overwhelmed by the flooding of suggestions coming in and or have buyers remorse after your purchace .all the suggestions above are very good ones and there are probably quite a few more in your budget.
Edited by smasher50 - 1/2/13 at 3:46am

The 816 did not replace the 814 > the 814 was built special and was destined to be sold at the former Sound Advice,
before they went out of business. The 814 was left in limbo - however AC4L picked the lot up, and it then became a
good deal for a lot of people.

The 814 is built around the 716 - with a higher end cabinet finish.
Edited by zieglj01 - 1/2/13 at 9:02pm

That sure blows your $1k budget out of the window lol. Would certainly be worth an audition, and you could probably talk the guy down to $2.5k since you're local.

How about $11,500 for the Snell A7 Illusion Towers.
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-snell-a7-illusion-reference-50-000-tower-system-excellent-condition-with-boxes-2012-12-11-speakers-13850-vestal-ny

Ascend Sierra Towers

You can get those for well under $3k

http://www.acousticsounddesign.com/core/view_BigProduct.cfm?pid=1937&sc=57

With the matching center for a little over

http://www.acousticsounddesign.com/core/view_BigProduct.cfm?pid=2004&sc=57

The 836's are probably some very nice speakers. Congrats on the purchase

The 836V, the flagship of the 800V series, is a great speaker for the money, especially used. Eventually you can add the matching 800V center and 806V rears. As far as electronics are concerned, what sort of budget do you have?

I'm not skeptical, i've never been able to tell apart a uber expensive amp with a high quality receiver. I bought the Onkyo TX-NR818 for under $1k and its been just great. I used a friends Parasound Halo A21 amp ($2k+) and never heard one difference after level matching my fronts for stereo use. That was running my Arx A5s full range at some crazy levels. I never noticed more ambient sounds, airy treble/mids, soundstage expansion, pin point details, tigher bass, nothing. Nothing different in sound, not like those old school stereophile elitetist guys claim.

Good deal - they should be a real nice set-up for you.

focal 836v would be a nice speaker. I listened to them in the erstwhile Tweeter store ( 900 series). These are rated 92 DB, so any decent AVR would drive them with ease - however, the 3 ohm dip may be a concern. I would just go with a decent AVR from regular players & add a cheap amp from emotiva ( or outlaw)

^^^^ No guarantee, that prices will decline on the center - if he is giving you a good deal,
then I would think about it

I would pick up the center and surrounds from him if you can afford it and he gives you a good deal on them.