Speaker Recommendations

You have provided absolutely no budget. Kinda hard to make recommendations without one.

I suggest a pair of Def Tech Studio Monitor 55 speakers for your main speakers. They are excellent and run $300 each. The Pro Center 2000 will run $349 to go with them, and a pair of Pro Monitor 800s will finish it off for $120 each or so. Those are list prices and I am sure you can find them cheaper if you do some looking around.

For a subwoofer, the NHT B12D is excellent, for around $700, and the Klipsch RW12D is pretty good for $400...etc.

The Arx A1b has been getting alot of attention and seems to be well liked. Probably one of the best bang for the buck bookshelfs out there. http://www.theaudioinsider.com/manufacturers.php?mPath=13 The A1b has been praised for its performance even against more expensive highly regarded speakers.

A comparison thread with the A1b and the Ascend 170SE http://www.avsforum.com/t/1446006/ascend-acoustics-cbm-170-se-vs-arx-a1b

I'd second the Arx speakers. Amazing detail, can play loud and are dirt cheap to boot. The more I listen to them the more impressed I become.