Hey all.  I finally got a chance to stop by Guitar Center today to give some of these models a test drive. I stayed away from the top end models (although Guitar Center didn't have many offerings in that area) and focused only on those in the $700-$1000 per pair price range.
 
I listened to the Focal Alphas (both 50 & 65, although they didn't have an 80), the JBL LSR305 & LSR308, a couple of Dynaudios, some KRKs (alas, only Rokkits and no VXT models) but to my surprise, there was one that blew everything away: The Yamaha HS8.
 
Now, a couple things to note: all monitors were lined up on shelves flat against the wall, and the room wasn't really treated.  None of them were of optimal height, and of course, due to the layout, the coveted equilateral triangle sweet spot didn't exist.  To compound the issue, they weren't level-matched, so I had to be careful not to mistake a boost in volume as a boost in clarity/quality.  
 
However, I was able to plug my iPhone into the system and sample music that I'm very familiar with, so although the room and monitor placement was less than ideal, I was able to listen to a wide range of familiar music - from Green Day to John Williams - and in each and every case the Yamahas provided the best (and fullest) sonic representation of the songs I selected.  Loud, quiet, close up, back of the room...no matter where I was in the room or which song I was listening to, those Yamahas just put a big, dumb smile on my face.
 
To be honest, the Alpha 65 monitors didn't even come close...they were thin and boxy compared to the HS8s. I wish they'd had an Alpha 80 for a better comparison (obviously 65 couldn't compete with the HS8 with lower frequencies), but I'm not sure it would've made much of a difference.
 
I'm still going to do a little research, and ultimately it's a bit of a risk since my listening environment is nothing like Guitar Center so there's no telling how they'll sound in my room, but man. My song selections sounded phenomenal through the Yamahas so I'm pretty sure I'll be owning a pair in short order. Plus, a pair of HS8s is $100 cheaper than a pair of Alpha 65s, so that's kinda nifty.
 
It's just...they're so friggin' big. :)

I have a pair of Yamaha HS80m...basically the model before the HS8 and pretty close to the same thing.  When I bought them, I purchased them from a studio that felt they needed better speakers (and I think name recognition for their customers) and bought the expensive Focal TwinB.  In a side by side in the studio, the difference was SO SLIGHT to me, that I couldn't see the $3000 difference.  Just recently, I loaned them to a friend to try in which he got a pair of the JBL LSR 8", because Guitar Center gave him a fantastic deal.  Side by side (Yamaha vs JBL), TO ME (again), the difference was very slight.  Infact we did some blind fold tests...walking out of the room...back in.  Couldn't tell the difference.  He had some old Mackie 5", and yes we could tell the difference pretty easy, mainly because of the low end.  Lastly, I have some old JBL 4311 (industry standard back when...).  My Yamaha are easily a step above the older JBL speakers.  The 4311 can get MUCH louder, but not nearly as smooth and pleasant to listen to...and I feel not as accurate, because of their "harshness".  Just my $.02.   And yes...in Guitar Center..for some reason, the speakers all sound drastically different.  Take time to match levels...some brands are amazingly similar.
 
and just to add...I think the JBL and Yamaha 8 inchers are amazing speakers...for the money...or just amazing.  I think they are that good.

In a proper space, and with levels matched I think most of us would  be hard pressed to hear a dramatic difference between monitors of a specific design, and while there will be differences between designs themselves, for the most part the differences are small.

Loudspeaker technology is pretty mature. A driver of a specific size is going to move a certain amount of air, no matter who made the driver. Some aspects, such as behavior at the extremes of the directional pattern, or extremes of the passband, may be a little more obvious, but they are still seldom dramatic.

What we pay for, when we pay $1000 instead of $100 for a pair of monitors or a microphone is that last 20%, or more likely 10%. OK, at the $100 price point we will likely give up a little bit of longevity, so let's say $500?

The biggest thing we buy, ESPECIALLY for monitors, is that which pleases our ears. I happen to really like the sound of the Equator, JBL, & Presonus monitors I auditioned. I also really like the sound of the Adam and Eve monitors I've used in the past, and I love my Urei 809s! I always preferred Altec over JBL and EV back in the bad old days too. Go figure!

There are patently poor monitors on the market - some fall apart, some are fatiguing, some are just plain inaccurate. But I think they are few and far between, and I didn't run into any this time around.

So when you are shopping for something for the studio (or the road rig) you have to keep in mind that a lot of the final decision will come down to plain old personal preference. Once you get past a certain threshold.

Yes, that means that my suggestions, and all the others, won't help anyone select a monitor. It might help you avoid one if it is particularly bad, but that's about it. And that's why, for a long time, I didn't participate in equipment threads.

I participate now mostly to try to provide options that I think folks might want to consider - and if I ever tell you that this or that is definitive then feel free to ignore me!
 

I was going to recommend the Yamaha's but I see you might have already discovered them.. 
I did a similar test in a music store. But then I'm biased to the sound of the Yamaha's as they have done me well for 20 years and counting. And I trust Yamaha to build not only a better cabinet, but better guts. 

streckfus
I'm still going to do a little research, and ultimately it's a bit of a risk since my listening environment is nothing like Guitar Center so there's no telling how they'll sound in my room, but man. My song selections sounded phenomenal through the Yamahas so I'm pretty sure I'll be owning a pair in short order.

If you can't trust your ears, what else is there ?  And they seem to have already decided.
 
The Yamaha's have rear-firing ports so you'll want them well away from walls or anything else behind them (which certainly wasn't the case at GC).

I have the Presonus Eris E8 and feel no need to change. They're honest to mix with at low to medium volumes.  IMO they easily hit above their price point @ $500/pair.

Paul P

streckfus
I'm still going to do a little research, and ultimately it's a bit of a risk since my listening environment is nothing like Guitar Center so there's no telling how they'll sound in my room, but man. My song selections sounded phenomenal through the Yamahas so I'm pretty sure I'll be owning a pair in short order.

If you can't trust your ears, what else is there ?  And they seem to have already decided.
 
The Yamaha's have rear-firing ports so you'll want them well away from walls or anything else behind them (which certainly wasn't the case at GC).

Yep, even though the room setup wasn't ideal, all of the music I sampled just sounded "right" on the Yamahas. I just wanted to dig a little deeper to see if there were any known problems with those particular monitors but thus far I haven't come across any red flags.
 
Unfortunately my room is way too small to get an ideal listening environment.  The monitors are about a foot away from the back wall, and three feet away from the side walls.  (As mentioned earlier, I do have absorption up in the front corners, side reflection points and cloud above the listening position.)  Of course, as you mentioned, that's still better than Guitar Center's setup. I may end up fiddling with the low shelf switch on the monitor if things feel out of whack.

If your room is small, you might downsize to the HS5's.  That's what I have and I really like them in my small room.

Heh, I  bought a pair of M-Audio BX8a's, plus stage stands, from a musician off of the Albuquerque Craigslist for $100. Sound great - couldn't pass up the deal.
 
 
 
 

The MSP 7s are nice and very flat.  If 6.5 inches is too big (you said you had problems w/ other similarly-sized woofer) you can use the 5s, which were frequently used in larger studios as secondary speakers.  The MSP series are  monitors, while the HS series are home speakers.
 
Pelonius (sp?) are very small speakers that many studios use as either mains (w/ the subwoofer) or as secondary.  They are scary good (@ $1000), w/in your budget and another $1000 gets you the subwoofer if you get a bigger room.