YogiBizz,
I think your kick-off plan is reasonable, being in an apt I would delay getting a sub as you seem to indicate.
- The division of funds is about right. Denon receivers are a solid choice and
Lewb's pointer to buying one from A4L is spot on.
With a $600 speaker budget, I would recommend
only getting your front left & right speakers ATT and delay getting a full surround system until later.
- With $600 to buy only two speakers, you will have several more options, such as:
1) If you are set on
ELACs consider their
UB5s at around $500/pair.
2)
Ascend Acoustics CMT-340s also at about $500/pair.
3)
SVS has
Prime Bookshelves also at about $500/pair.
The last two suggestion's companies have liberal in-home audition/return policies allowing you to potentially order both, test and compare, and then return the one that does not work as well for you.
There are many other excellent options, hopefully others will suggest some more.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver