First, welcome! Glad to see another Bozo on the bus!

Other people will follow with better advice, but I would listen to some brands that are known for great sound and a reasonable price. Here are some brands you should look for I think: NHT, PSB, Bowers & Wilkins, Paradigm, and Revel.

The cool thing is, there are lots of other brands! Now you gotta go hear them. Take a cd you really like or one that you really know how it sounds, and take to a hifi dealer and hear what they can show you.

Sounds like fun to me.

Trey

Magnepan MMGs for $600/pair. Take up little more room than bookshelf speakers on stands and probably sound as good as any bookshelf pair for $1000 or less.