Folks,
I decided to stop fidgeting and wondering, and just ordered the following today:
Axiom VP150 (cherry; factory outlet)
Axiom QS8 (cheery; factory outlet)
Hsu VTF3 subwoofer - sorry Axiom!
Pioneer VSX-45TX receiver
These will complement my Hales System Two floor-standing speakers and the Adcom power amp that will continue to drive the Hales. I will see how well this mixed-brand 5.1 will behave!
I thought I would wait till the installation of the "visual" part of my system is settled, but it turns out that the custom-masking of the Da-Lite screen seems to take fairly long time. So... here I am!
I thank you guys very much for the numerous suggestions and advice so far!
Cheers!