Navin, out of curiosity, what speakers and amps do you like or would recommend to non diy-ers in the mid fi segment?
I don't have an honest answer to that. When I was looking for new speakers I first considered buying because my carpenter and 2 other carpenters I consulted told me that they cannot deliver the finish that Focal, Paradigm, Sonus Faber, Martin Logan, Tannoy deliver with their Chorus/Electra, Studio, Luito, Electromotion, and Definition series respectively.
When I was looking for floor standers I considered everything from the B&W CM9, KEF R900, Monitor Audio GX300, Focal Chourrs 836W and Electra 1028, Tannoy DC10T, etc and none satisfied fully (and all of them exeeded my budget). Having had some experience with DIY with great trepidation I decided to go DIY again. Rick Craig at Selah had a few designs which we modified to suit my needs.
Speakers I have liked in the past include the Sonus Faber Cremona, Vandersteen 4A, Martin Logan Sequel, Klipsch's Belle Klipsch and Klipschorn combo, Wilson Audio Sophia (I found the Watt-Puppy lacking in the last octave), etc. none of these I would consider as "mid-fi".
If I was forced to recommend something in the sub 2L budget I would short list Vandersteen, Sonus Faber, Martin Logan, Monitor Audio, Dali, Focal, KEF, Tannoy, B&W, PSB, Paradigm, etc..you know them, they are the usual suspects. A few of them are capable of low bass response (defined as sub 40Hz, @95db/@3000 cu ft.) but at the cost of transparency in the midbass-hf range. Others are good from 50Hz up up but need assistance below 50Hz especially if working in larger rooms (2500 cu. ft +). However I believe that if you are paying 1.5L+ for a floor stander it SHOULD be able to offer good detial and transparency across the entire range as well as not force you to supplement the bass with a subwoofer (except perhaps for home theater requirements). A well designed DIYed speaker can do that.