Thank all the folks who gave me good advice on setting up my first audio system. Considering both sound quality and limited budget, I purchased the following components:

Speaker: Axiom M60 (pair)
Receiver: Denon AVR-2105
CD/DVD: Denon DVD-1920
Cable: Axiom

In the future I will add the surround and central speakers to the system. The shipping of Axiom speakers is really quick. I am still waiting for the receiver. I will let the folks here know how the system sounds.