The more research I do the less confident I am in making a decision. I think I want a set of speakers that will be loud without distortion (who doesn't?), would be able to stand on their own without the need for a sub, (though I will be purchasing a sub), have clear, airy highs; a solid mid range, and an excellent sound stage.
I listen to a lot of electronic music, but also enjoy classic rock such as Led Zeppelin, Clapton, The Who, and on occasion, thoroughly enjoy jazz and blues.
We have a Panasonic TC-P65VT currently; viewing/listening distance is about 7 feet.
Regarding pre/proc/avr, I may need to up my budget as I'm not sure that an AVR alone would provide enough power? I'm an IT guy, so I definitely want network connectivity etc. I have a 22TB storage network in my basement that holds a collection of movies, videos and music and currently stream that content to multiple rooms.
I really don't want to spend the time in auditioning 10 different sets of speakers in my home, if that would even be possible as I really don't have the time.
I guess this is more of a frustrated rant than a question, all apologies.
With people new to audio, the more they read online, the more they can become paralyzed by all the stuff they read.
First, you ought to choose a price range for speakers. For starters, consider prices for the left/right front pair of speakers. Bring (or burn) a few CDs of music you are familiar with, and spend an afternoon in an audio/video store. You may not find the speakers for you on the first day, but you will probably find a price range your ears and wallet can live with. As a suggestion, start with $500/pair, 1000/pair, etc. up to about $2000/pair. Once you have a price range for speakers, you can ask here for more suggestions.
You probably have read that you should listen to speakers in your own home. Yes, you should ultimately, but you don't have to start out doing that. One afternoon in a store or two can get you started quickly. Your room dimensions and the location of the speakers in your room will have the greatest effect on bass, ~250 Hz and lower. But in a store, you will get a good idea of a speaker's midrange sound. Understand that there are quite a few different speaker makers around, but you may find only a few brands in local stores. So listen, and get some initial ideas.
Most recently made AVRs will have better networking abilities than separate preamp/proccesors. The larger makers of AVRs (Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, Marantz, Pioneer) produce new models much more often, so they can be expected to have the latest bells & whistles. And now, newer TVs and Blue Ray players can stream directly from a wireless modem.
I'd look for an AVR with streaming or networking hookups, and with HDMI jacks for digital AV signals from a Blue Ray player. Those features are common now in AVRs, but few if any preamp/processors have all that. As long as you choose an AVR with 5 or 7 channels of preamp output RCA jacks, you can always add an external amp at a later time.
