Over at Audiocircle, the JBL LSR-305 active speakers have quite the reputation, so much so that I picked up a used pair of their bigger sisters, the LSR-308s, on a whim back in the summer.
Having bowed to pressure and packed away my main system in preparation for a cross country move, I figured this was the perfect time to try out the 308s. My system now consists of an Auralic Aries Mini and the JBL LSR-308’s and holy cow, ai caramba, whooooaa there big guy … the sound is astonishing. I’m using my same speaker stands (Target MR-24) as before, DH Labs DIY power cables and MonoPrice RCA to Balanced cables. Only the speaker stands would be budget busters for the “affordable” designation, everything else should be available new for under $1k.
Of course “affordable” is a relative term, however the JBLs can be found used for around the $250 mark and the Aries Mini has been out long enough that they show up used too. Just make sure you use the beta firmware on the Auralic so you get RAAT goodness - it blows AirPlay out of the water.