The SCS look good, and they can save room because you can mount them directly on the wall, since they are not rear ported. Personally, with that budget I would go with Ascends before SVS speakers, I have a feeling that the drivers and enclosure will be superior to the SVS speakers. I am talking about the Ascend CBM170 speakers, not the seirra-1's, which I would expect to be a good deal better (and a lot more expensive). However, I think the SVS speakers would be good, they wouldn't need as much space and they will sound nice.
Some other speakers in that class are the
Hsu Research HB-1 speakers and
Infinity Primus p162. Both are inexpensive relative to your budget, and both are excellent speakers. The Primus might be better for you since they are front ported, and don't need space behind them. The Hsu's are fairly sensitive, and don't need much power at all to drive loud. I have both these speakers, and they are terrific.
As for the subs, the SVS PB12 would be a very good sub, and fairly cheap too. However, with your budget, you can do better, if you wish. Any of the subs I recommended would be better performing, and smaller sized, but, of course, they are more expensive. Something else from SVS that would do better is the
PC12 Plus, it wouldn't have as large of a footprint, but it would pack more of a punch. Other subs in that class are the
Hsu Research VTF3 mk3, and the
Outlaw Audio LFM-1 EX, which I think would probably have slightly more extension and a bit more output than the PB12, but they cost slightly more. They are all in the same class of subs though, and I didn't mention them before because they are larger, and I was guessing space for you is at a premium. Another sub worth worth looking at in this class is the
Epik Sentinel, which would have a lot of output and not be quite as large.
If you want really deep, clean bass, check out the Epik Phoenix or the Epik Dynasty. Now that I think about it, since you are in the Chicagoland area, you could pick these up, since Epik is in Crystal Lake. Sadly though, you would have to pay sales tax, but that wouldn't cost as much as shipping. A Phoenix or Dynasty in your room would be insane though, you would have reference level bass I am guessing, and it would be superior to any movie theater that you have ever been to. With your budget though, you can afford it.
A Epik Phoenix or Dynasty, a set of Infinity Primus, SVS SCS, Ascend CBM speakers and CMT center, with something like a Onkyo Tx-sr707 receiver (from newegg!), would give you better than theater sound for less than $3k. Also get your HDMI and speaker cable from monoprice or Blue Jeans, especially the HDMI. You will pay five times as much for HDMI cable at a electronics store than at Monoprice or Blue Jeans.
