These are great posts. I am using an old Bose Soundlink Revolve in my living room/dining room for news and dinner party background music and it is remarkably satisfying in a difficult environment with a lot of reflective surfaces. I could never get a high end system to work in that room to it’s full potential.
I have set up many small systems, and good sound is easy if you don’t want real bass. Good bass is expensive, and there is no real way around that. If you’re OK with everything above 50Hz, then there are many inexpensive systems you can assemble that will sound very good, if not great.
kn