Thanks for all the good advice and comments. You have confinced me to give it a go. The TV is on a lift so it is stowed in the cabinet when not in use. I will read up on sound treatment at rives.com as suggested and figure out a way to make the best of what I have to work with. I just didn't want to invest a lot of money and then be very disappointed with the results. I look forward to getting into the hi end stuff and having experiences to share. thanks again for your help.
The space between the speakers
I would like to invest in a high end stereo system. Something like the Wilson Audio Sophias driven by Audio Research electronics. I need to share the space though with our home theater which means that there will be a cabinet that holds the 52 inch tv with a pop up lift in back and electronics in front between the speakers. The cabinet is 5.5 ft wide by 3 ft deep by 45 inchs tall. I can position the front of the speakers a little in front of the cabinet (6 to 12 inches). My question is: Is it likely that I will be able to get good enough sound out of the speakers in this situation to warrant the investment or is the cabinet a deal breaker?