PapaJim;
I would avoid buying anything from the B&M (brick & mortar) stores like Best Buy and Circuit City, unless you do your research elsewhere and you decide you want a product that they carry at a good price. I go to a Best Buy on a regular basis (to buy DVD's and CD's), and as far as I can tell, the speakers they carry are mostly crap. They do not carry Denon, Onkyo, HK or the upper lever Yamahas and Pioneer receivers. Good receivers, as I have said elsewhere, will sound equivalent, so you can find one with the features, power, and looks that you like at a satisfactory price and be confident it will sound good. The refurbished Denon and Karmon Kardon gear available at e-cost include some out and out steals.
Speakers are a bit trickier. When you buy them at a store, you have the comforting illusion of being able to listen before you buy. The illusion is that the store can manipulate the signal to make just about any speaker sound good or bad in their store. The acoustics of a store listening room are also quite different than those of your living room. Those speakers that you loved in the store might just sound like junk when you ge them home. Getting a set of Axioms, sound unheard, that you can audition in your home for up to 30 days without risking anything but return postage isn't quite as crazy as it sounds. Also, check the thread entitled "Auditioning Axioms in your area" in the "Questions and Comments" forum to see if anybody in your area has a set of Axioms you can audition. Most all of us are proud of our systems, and eager to show them off.
Mark
