OK, so briefly:
After auditioning a bunch of things below 1k and a handful of things climbing over 2.5-3k, I had to settle on something in my budget and for my taste the Rainmakers weren't so much settling as finding something that really did a lot of things I like.
They're not neutral speakers, they're on the warmer side which is just how I like em. The tweeters are extended and much more detailed than the speakers they replaced (Axioms). Overall there's more separation between instruments and a much larger and more engaging soundstage. The attack on percussion is also the the most immediate and clear of any speaker I've owned, but of course these are also the most expensive speakers I've owned.
In my room I'm not having much issue with lumpy bass which was a bit of a problem with the Axioms although moving them away from the walls more helped. The bass is more linear and FAR more extended with clear output reaching down to the low 40Hz range which is perfect for the majority of what I listen to. The bass is not just one note either, walking bass lines have a punch and separation that makes them believable (although perhaps not quite like sitting next to the bassist as I used to when I played jazz).
They're not perfect, I've found on certain tracks that the bass can get a little lost (what else do I expect from a small bookshelf speaker with 5.5" drivers). The high frequencies on some albums can be unpleasant, but as I'm finding that may be more of an issue with the album than the speaker itself, as they're proving to be quite revealing. I found static in a CD I never knew was there before
The clarity and high level dynamics can't match some of the more expensive speakers I heard, but I doubt I'd have found anything I liked better without going well outside my budget. I did have more money I could have spent, but I just didn't feel a great need to and didn't find it justified at this point in my life.
Overall, I am very happy. I don't think I'll be searching for something better until I'm done with grad school and have considerably more money to spend. These are more than 3x the price of my old speakers, so I'll probably look to set a limit of at least that much next time although there's no reason I have to spend that much if I find something killer for less of course.
