Thanks everyone for the responses. Dr. House - haven't heard them and love the reviews (and I admit I'm new to this) but are the Aperion 4B and 5B a lot to ask of my entry-level Pioneer VSX-1020-K which delivers an honest 80W x 2? Maybe I'm overstating this concern... The Ascend Acoustics CBM-170SE looks intriguing. I'll need to get more acquainted with these on paper and add them to the short list.
Jason - thanks for the sub recommendations. My short list of subs at the moment had all but the Outlaw. SVS was a little steep given my budget, though that was assuming the center channel was also part of the picture. I need to narrow this list a bit and also better educate myself about integrating any of these bookshelf candidates with a suitable sub.
The speakers will be placed on top of a cabinet which encloses the television/receiver/etc. (The speakers will be on top, not within the enclosure.) The top of the cabinet is 48" above the floor; the speakers will be about 6-10" from a rear wall, and about 6 feet apart. The listening position is about 10-12 feet from the front of the cabinet. Not perfectly ideal though not horrible either... I'm somewhat constrained as to moving the cabinet, and as it is the right side is pretty close to an opening into an adjoining room. Thus floor standers (and for that matter stands) would be tough to accomodate on that side. These are compromises I'm prepared to live with, given this is a living room not really a dedicated listening space or theater. Of course within these constraints I'll experiment and refine the placement as much as possible.
