I would recommend that you consider the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers, which are $350/pair; they are excellent. The Pioneer BS-22 are also amazingly good, considering that they cost only $150.

As for mounting, it is better to put small shelves on the wall and put the speaker ON the shelves with rubber pads  etc. under them. This isolates the walls from the speaker. It also lets you change to other speakers in the future with no work at all. 

The shelves can be attached using 3-inch steel angle brackets, which are cheap and will not show if they are mounted to the wall so they are behind the speaker and under the wood shelf. Make sure you use 3-inch #10 wood screws to go INTO THE STUDS in the wall, and drill a 1/8 inch pilot hole first for each screw location so you don't split the wood studs when the screw goes in.

The shelves need to be wide enough to go from one stud to the next; usually 16 inches. The shelf depth should allow the speaker to project out a couple of inches in front of the shelf, and there should be a couple of inches clearance behind the speaker. 

If you are going to mount them only 12 inches above floor level, you will want to face them upward somewhat so the main midrange speaker driver is aimed at ear level where you sit to listen; around 30 inches high. Brackets can of course be painted to match the wall.

This can be accomplished by bending the right-angle brackets so that they are around 70 to 75 degrees instead of 90 degrees, before installing them on the wall and adding the shelves. Clamping them in a vise and slipping a steel pipe over one end is a good way to bend them.

The best stuff to put under the speakers is sold as shelf liner at RV stores like Camping World. It is a honeycomb rubber about 1/8 inch thick and is sort of tacky to the touch. It comes as a sheet about 1 foot wide and several feet long and can be cut to your size with scissors. It will provide good isolation and the speakers cannot move.