[selden]

Emuc,

If you can spare the time, you should consider visiting a local AV store to listen to speakers. Take some of your favorite music so you're familiar with what it sounds like. I suspect you'll be surprised at how much better it can sound with quality speakers.

In general, you should probably plan to spend about 2/3 of your budget on speakers and the rest on electronics.

 

[selden]

H,

By all means, listen to your favorite DVD. Hopefully you can avoid getting distracted by the video (One of my problems is that I have trouble that way, which makes it hard for me to use one to evaluate speakers.) Music (whether CD or high-bit-rate MP3: many modern receivers include USB/iPod connectivity) is usually a better test, because it's easier to determine if individual instruments sound right. The sound tracks on DVDs usually include lots of processing, since the audio is meant to support the movie, not to stand alone.

You shouldn't hesitate to give them a call ahead of time, and let them know your approximate budget. They might be able to set up a system in advance for you to listen to. Of course, they'll try to persuade you to spend more than you want!

Whatever you decide, though, be sure not to get Bose. Their money is spent on marketing, not on audio design.