Which speakers to buy?

Hello There,

I am looking to set up a good 5.1 channel setup. I wanted to start off with speakers and buy an amp later (for the amp I am guessing I should post in the amp/receiver section?) So far I have purchased one center channel speaker on a whim. I had heard good things about AudioVector and this was a $1000 center channel speaker I bought for $50 so I thought it was quite a steal: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121079838387 It's not the prettiest thing, and I don't know how much it matters that this match the other speakers I buy exactly, because I will ONLY be using this and the rear speakers for films and only those that had a 5.1 channel soundtrack encoded, otherwise I will be listening to 2 channel audio for music and 2 channel films...

My requirements are something that isn't made in China or outsourced to a developing country and something that is high build quality with a degree of aesthetics to it. I don't necessarily want form over function, but the design is just as important as the sound for me. I would LOVE to have something that would go well with my Loewe Aconda high gloss black TV. I want something that is used from the late 80s to early 00s, something that I can find for cheap now that was top of the line back then, similar to the steal I got on the AudioVector. I bought my Loewe Aconda for $40 which was originally a $3500 TV... Granted TV technology has changed a lot more than speaker technology, there are still great deals to be had from the used recent vintage speaker market.

Specifically I am looking for two tower speakers that are not too wide as I don't have much room (I will be sitting only a few feet away from the speakers). I really like the look of the B&O Penta speakers, they remind me of a cyberpunk blade runner type of theme, in fact I love all the beolab/beovox tower speakers as they seem to be nice and round and thin so would fit perfectly. Unfortunately due to the B&O name, they keep their value quite well and are therefore out of my price range. I would love something that shape/size and design. I know a lot of people on here would say they don't like B&O because of the name but those speakers are hand assembled in Denmark and the fact that B&O focuses a lot on beautiful designs is not a bad thing, I wish more speaker companies looked less utilitarian since you will be staring at the darn things all the time when in your house and I would rather admire the look rather than feel sick at the look of them.

My price range is in the $200-$300 range and so far I have found only a few speakers in that range that might fit my needs such as the KEF Q50/Q70, some Boston Acoustics and Polk Audios, etc... It would really be great if people could give me some suggestions that meet my requirements. I think if I try hard and long enough I might find some excellent speakers in my price range of a recent vintage. I just need a bunch of suggestions to look for. I quite like the look of the A/D/S speakers from the 90s, the Linn Tukan and others are incredibly beautiful with their gloss finish as are Vienna Acoustics and Dynaudio, but I haven't seen any in my price range yet... I would prefer a lesser known brand as like the ones I mentioned compared to something like Polk or Boston as I want something like I mentioned that is less mass produced, more artisanal and with a higher aesthetic quality to them (perhaps even a gloss sheen to match my Loewe).

Forgot to mention the types of music I will listen to the most: New Wave, TripHop, Dubstep/Chillstep, Modern Symphonic/Experimental (Ryuichi Sakamoto), New Age, Adult Contemporary, Chillout, World Music, some pop/alternative rock... I think really rich deep mids would be nice and lots of bass (although this is not a requirement as I can always use the system as 2.1 with a subwoofer)...

Thank you!