Thanks TIC (or is it "Reubent"?). Given that it's a small room, the look and footprint are substantial issues. I would love for the speakers to be small and wall mounted, but, I am so skeptical of the possibility of these sounding good that I have not considered it. Please do let me know if there are good sounding small wall mounted units! Outside of that possibility, I definitely prefer smaller speakers to large ones, but I think in terms of footprint, especially the width. So to me a narrow tall speaker is not more intrusive than than a narrow mini-monitor on a stand. But a high quality mini-monitor can cost the same as a mediocre floor-stander, so, I'm open to suggestion here. My reason for wanting to limit investment is simply that I've learned through long experience with audio systems that the upgrade path is endless, but, there typically is a threshold for you to really enjoy the sound. Above that threshold you can hear the differences in a/b comparisons, but, on it's own either is fine. Like, I can hear how much more detail I get with Valhalla than with my current interconnects, but, to me the Audience sound so wonderful that I don't see the need to tie up that extra capital. And yes I could consider just buying a pair of fronts and a sub now, waiting on the others, if you think that is a good idea. (Isn't the center pretty crucial though?). Thank you for your feedback, I truly appreciate it. BTW, I've been impressed in stores with a brief exposure to "Energy" speakers in home theatre, what's the word on these?
Art
Art