So Antares, do you watch TV and movies with that system, as well? I've been conflicted about whether to have two separate systems, or just watch TV and movies through the stereo system. Were I to go one single system, it'd be movies and TV through the stereo, and not music through a stereo mode on a receiver. (One exception I've explored was connecting my front left and right to a power amp (or mono blocks) and connecting those through the pre-outs on a home theater amp. I would trust a Marantz receiver as a pre-amp and home theater receiver, but I feel like it's not powerful enough for me to really bang out my music). I'm sure Dave might have something to say on this, as well. Then again, I might be overthinking it, as I'm starting to think you can acquire a lot of good sound for a lot less than I've been thinking about spending. I like the tips of separate amps and what you really need out of a speaker. A couple of brands I've listened to and enjoyed (and can afford) are Emotiva and Parasound. Both have a wide enough selection that I could switch out/upgrade over time, but have solid points of entry quality and price-wise where I likely wouldn't even have to do that.
I haven't actually had a home theater system since the early aughts, when I bought a Sony HT in a box system for my DVD player for $300, my first credit card purchase that I paid off so fast because getting the bills in the mail scared me, and used it in my mom's basement during summer breaks from college. I never even used it at school. I had a two-speaker all-in-one Pioneer rig with 50 CD changer in my dorm that absolutely pounded, though was not of what we might consider the highest of quality now, then later got a 2.1 JBL alien looking thing for my computer later on...and used my TV speakers for TV and movies. Still a big tube TV with speakers you could see. Now, they might as well not even put speakers on TVs.
BTW - researched your bookshelf speakers, Henry Kloss was in the lab for those, as well as the original KLH Model Fives. Must've known what he was doing. Also noted the Hsu Research sub, that's a brand I've heard a lot about, though I haven't heard any of their models. SVS is another sub brand that I've heard a lot of good things about, too.