What are some affordable speakers that sound great?

It really depends on the music you listen to and what your ears are already use to.

I thought my fathers old setup always sounded amazing when I was younger. Coming back to it 20 years later though, it sounds stupidly scooped to my ears. Same speakers but what has changed is the music I was playing on them and what my ears expect to hear. 20 years ago I was more into guitar/bass/drum/vocal music that these speakers were made for.

There is really no such thing as "sound quality". There is just different EQ, frequency range, etc.