I originally wanted to spend $5k on my speakers (5.1), but my budget got knocked down to $2k by my boss (aka wife).
I told her that I would see what was out there at $2k before deciding if I could live with it, or if I needed $5k speakers to be happy with life.
What would you recommend I audition for a $2k 5.1 setup? In terms of what I'm looking for, I'm not an audiophile by any stretch -- I usually can't tell the difference between a lot of the high end systems I've heard. The main audio pet peeves that I want to avoid are dialog that's too warm (and therefore hard to catch what people are saying) and distorted subwoofer bass (probably related to pet peeve #1). Another constraint is that the front speakers need to be wall mounted and the surrounds need to be attached to the ceiling. I can't get free-standing, and the wall is concrete with drywall over it, so I won't be able to put in in-wall speakers. For the surrounds, similarly, I don't have any wall space nearby (odd-shaped room) and I don't want to install speakers in the ceiling, since I have an heating duct nearby, and the sound could carry around the house.
So to sum up:
$2k budget for 5.1 speakers
On-wall for LCR (though sub on floor is ok)
On-ceiling for surrounds
Thoughts?

What would you recommend I audition for a $2k 5.1 setup? In terms of what I'm looking for, I'm not an audiophile by any stretch -- I usually can't tell the difference between a lot of the high end systems I've heard. The main audio pet peeves that I want to avoid are dialog that's too warm (and therefore hard to catch what people are saying) and distorted subwoofer bass (probably related to pet peeve #1). Another constraint is that the front speakers need to be wall mounted and the surrounds need to be attached to the ceiling. I can't get free-standing, and the wall is concrete with drywall over it, so I won't be able to put in in-wall speakers. For the surrounds, similarly, I don't have any wall space nearby (odd-shaped room) and I don't want to install speakers in the ceiling, since I have an heating duct nearby, and the sound could carry around the house.
So to sum up:
$2k budget for 5.1 speakers
On-wall for LCR (though sub on floor is ok)
On-ceiling for surrounds
Thoughts?