Help with Front Sound Stage for Great Room

Hi -- Am moving into a new house, and need suggestions for the Front 3 and Subwoofer for the Great Room. I've attached a diagram that includes the size/shape/layout. Primary considerations:

- Existing reciever- Denon 2112ci
- Surround in ceiling speakers - Polk RC 60i (chose these for the smaller aesthetic, I like Polks in general, and they were $49 over xmas at Newegg. Have been playing them as a main speaker so far (until I get full system), and so far am happy -- they should be more than adequate as surrounds
- Debate between my wife and I on aesthetics of Tower vs. Bookshelf -- Bookshelf would be sat on the TV stand next to TV. My concern is given the size of the room, would they be sufficient.
- Usage is 70% music (Rock/Jazz), 30% TV/Home Theatre
- Budget, would like to keep under $1,000 for the 4 speakers (R/L/Ctr/Sub), but could go up to $1500 if necessary.
- Primary experience is with Polk (have an OLD set of 5jr+, and prior surround sound (in small condo) was Paradigm Cinema
Was considering the Rti A3 or other larger bookshelf
- Floors are marble -- will likely be a 12x9 rug in main listening area, but given the openness -- boominess of sound an issue?
- Would think if I end up with bookshelf, better (and larger) quality sub becomes very important, with towers could have a smaller sub.

Help advice greatly appreciated -- am not locked into Paradigm or Polk -- just brands I know and respect. Would be helpful to deal with brands that I can go demo locally (NJ or Florida)

 

Great Room - Audio.pdf 78.2626953125k . file

Anyone? Advice please!

Thanks -- was watching Newegg on the Monitor 70s. Certainly $300 for the pair is a bargain, and see from reading hear that there are fans and haters of that, but no denying it is a good "bang for the buck". Wonder which would be better the Rti8 (less drivers, but better build quality/electronics) vs. the Monitors. The RtiA5s would drive to the top of the price range it seems.

Guessing in the 1000/1500 price point there should be some good choices outside Polk as well. Any advice on the split in terms of spending on Fronts/Center/Sub? Given that I'll be using more for Music then Movies thinking the Fronts are the most important for Music? And Center and Sub most important for movies? Seen advice here to always up the budget for the sub, so maybe 40% on the fronts, 35% on sub and 25% on the center?

I do have some flexibility from a budget perspective, so the higher price point of the A3 with a solid center and sub doesn't worry me -- but the sound not being sufficient in a room of that size is a concern. On the other hand, think the smaller speakers might do better to eliminate "boominess" since there is a lot of solid surface and open air -- am not an acoustical engineer by any extent -- just hypothesizing.

I would gain points with the wife for using bookshelves -- will be easier to work into the entertainment center design -- I can easily work them into be at the proper level and appropriately spaced -- towers may have to end up going further apart than I'd like...

Still under negotiations!

UPDATE: I am going forward with towers -- increased the budget to around $2K for F/C/L and Sub. (you can see from above, using Denon 2112, and Polk RC60i for surrounds). Narrowing down to:

PSB:
Image T6: $1300
C5 Center: $400

this would leave a smaller budget for Sub, however, not sure how much sub I really need, as majority of listening is 2 ch music, and likely any of these towers will perform nicely at full band?

Energy: RC-70 ($800-$1000 -- was just on sale -- likely will be again)
RC L/C/R $280

Much more $$ room to spend on subwoofer

Polk: RTi10 (if they come back onto the Polk ebay site) $600 -- am assuming these are comparable to the RtiA9
CSiA6 - $292 (Polk ebay store) -- assuming this is timbre matched still with the RTi series -- couldn't find the "plain" CSi (non-A) version

Aperion - Intimus 5 vs Versus Forte -- not sure which one would be better for music (vs. HT) prices are around the same ($1000-1100 for the mains) and 350 for the centers.

I have not heard the Aperions or PSBs yet -- but from reading they both seem that I would like. I've heard the Energy's and RtiA versions of the Polk's which both sound great -- but have not been able to here them side/side.

Any comments on these or others I should be considering, and the importance of a sub with these, considering the majority of the listening in 2 -ch rock/jazz music???

Bump for the evening crowd -- thoughts please???

So you're feeling in the PSBs are much better musically than the others? I believe in the specs they go down to about 34 Hz -- in which case would I be using a sub in the mix for music, or be better off setting the Fronts to handle the full range in music? Or does this depend on the quality of sub I end up with?

With full range towers such as these, is the sub mostly for the Movies part of the equation?

Thanks Nethawk -- The LSi's are 4-ohms, which is something I figured I'd wanted to avoid, since I'm not planning on using a separate amp (Denon 2112 ci receiver). So based on my usage for mostly music, may be best going with the PSBs, setting them for full band when playing music, and then getting a decent ($300-$500) Internet sub (e.g. entry level Hsu) for movies. While it's a big room, likely won't be cranked -- more interested in accuracy then blowing out the walls...