Hi Skeeter,
You have an interesting situation. First of all you will have lots of folks telling you what to buy but IMHO you have set a decent budget so don't stray from it if both you and your wife are happy with it. (Happy wife, happy life.
)
I'd look at tower speakers for the Fronts. I'd look at a heavy duty Mounting Bracket for the TV that would let you shift it (when you want to have a HT experience - not just to watch the news..) toward the alcove and down towards eye /ear level. (See marked up photo attached.) I'd hang the Center Channel from the Bracket under the TV or on top.
I have both a 5.1 setup for 3D TV and a 6.1 set up in a different room. The 6.1 is definitely more interesting when watching some Movies. I have capability to add "high" fronts to my much newer 5.1 setup, but I have to forget about it (Remember Happy wife, happy life.
)
If I wasn't an electrician / technician and was going to get someone else to wire up my system, I'd be really tempted to install extra ceiling speakers above the fronts and in the rear which would allow you to take advantage of Dolby Atmos (if it ever really takes off ), or the newer DTS X (which has some great reviews). I'm still a fan of discrete speakers for the ones at ear level.
I'll post again on the Speakers and Receiver but I already have an idea what I'd recommend.
Gents,
I skimmed over parts and failed to notice Skeeter has started buying bits and pieces already. You can't go wrong buying a good Sub to start. I was going to head him over to the Pioneer SP-PK52FS 5.0 (forget the SUB) Floorstanding Speaker System for the rest as I think the Sub in this system was the weakest link. If he watched sales on Amazon and /or Best Buy he could pick them up for $400 total.
I'm a huge Fan of the Sony STR-DN1050 (I own one, and had a 1040 for a while. See review of the older STR-DN1040 on Audioholics). It will soon be replaced with a STR-DN1060 with even more features (like Automation, multi-Room control). These list at $600 and are far more bang for the $ than any other receiver up to $1,000. I checked them all out before going to the Sony. The Sony STR-DN1050 will begin heavy discounting soon; so if Skeeter wants to buy now and not wait for Atmos /DTS X then he can save a few $.
So with the $850 for the SUB, Skeeter would be into this system for $1850 which would let him buy a Sony BDP-S790 Blu ray Player (The is a on Audioholics Video Review on You Tube) for $250 leaving him with $400 for two pairs of in the ceiling speakers and some wire. (Or he could jump for the Oppo BDP-103 Universal Blu-ray Player @ $500 leaving him to stretch $150 for the ceiling speakers => see Audioholics Video Review on You Tube as well)
By the way, all of the components I've suggested are recommended by Audioholics in their
E-Book: Top AV Gear Guide for 2015
I tried to post links to the reviews but wasn't permitted. Sorry
Regards,
Jim
