<font color='#000000'>Here's my two cents for your project, which I envy. The listening tests sound like fun - just beware they are not going to tell you much, if anything, of relevance to your room. In fact, they will probably be very deceptive. Many a speaker will sound terrific in the listening rooms but won't work in your room. For instance, I own and love a pair of Axiom M60tis, a 37" floorstander with good musical bass. But I would not try to use it in a 10'x10' room (and I note you're wisely looking at bookshelves as sats) because they need at least 7'-8' of separation and 1' from the wall to acheive their best soundstage and imaging -- which are one of their strongest selling points. And then ideally you need to sit 8'-10' back from them, which is not practical in a 10'x10' room.
If I were outfitting your room, I'd definitely audition everything at home under the same acoustic conditions -- so maybe after some initial basics (drapes, bookshelves) were in place. The Monitor Bronze's sound great, as do the Monitor Silvers if you can locate a dealer who will let you try them at home. I also recommend the Axiom bookshelves -- any of them -- and that you consider the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170. You'd have to do an Internet-shipping audition, which could incur return costs, but since you're starting from scratch, you have the chance to audition either or both the Axioms or Ascends side by side with the Monitors on an A/B test then go with your favorite.
One of the selling points of the Monitors and the Axioms (especially the Monitor Silvers, IMHO) is that the upgrade paths are clear and appealing. This gives you lots of flexibility. (These speakers are said to share sonic qualities as well -- a main difference is the Monitors look better and cost more. Axioms looks nice, however -- I'm very happy with the look of mine.) For example, if you go with Axiom M2tis ($255) as mains and surrounds, then some day want to upgrade to the much acclaimed Axiom QS8s ($470 and similar in ways to the Monitor FX speakers) as surrounds, then you'll have a nice, sonically matched pair of Axiom M2s to use in a 7.1 config or in another room. Likewise if you go with M22tis ($400) as mains now, you'll probably be able to use them indefinitely, even in a larger room some day ... And for what it's worth, were I auditioning bookshelves for this room, I'd try the Axiom M3tis vs. Ascends vs. Monitor Silver or comparable Bronze bookshelves, to see what kind of bass fullness I could get on music. If you only/mainly want HT, I'd try the Axiom M2tis or M22tis vs similarly priced Ascend & Monitor. Point is, if you go with a line that matches, like Monitor or Axiom (while using your SVS sub), you'll have lots of options moving ahead. You could add a pair of their floorstanders if you move into a larger room, and still find practical, timbre-matching uses for the extra bookshelves you had accumulated. The Ascend Acoustics line is more limited, since they only offer two bookshelf speakers. But they are well-priced and excellent by all reports.
By the way, I think you can get great sound out of this small room -- just use appropriately small speakers and enjoy all the acoustic tweaks. Sounds like a very cool way to spend some time.
Birdman</font>
