Spareribs:
If you are going to use the speakers very close to a tube TV, then you need shielded speakers because the magnets in unshielded speakers can mess with the tv image. This is usually not a problem for the fronts because you can space them far enough away from the screen, but people often put the center channel speaker on top of the screen. If it's not shielded, that can be a problem.
I've heard good things about the Bic center channel speakers, but I've never heard them myself.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...Fencoding=UTF8
Same goes for Athena subs that are regularly on sale.
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetail...=true&id=20367
I don't agree with Hirsch about the ease of setting up a subwoofer for listening to music. It's true that subs have volume and crossover adjustments, but getting them to blend really well with bookshelfs is either very difficult or nearly impossible in my experience. But getting them to shake for movies is easy.
You should only consider a subwoofer that has its own amplifier built in (active). A passive sub won't work with your receiver without a separate sub amp.
The Watts ratings of mid-fi receivers are very unreliable, as are THD. You really cannot buy mid-fi electronics on the basis of published specs. You should ask here for recommendations on the best dolby digital receiver in your price range. There are usually people around with good suggestions.
I'm glad to see people enjoying the speakers. It will be interesting to hear from someone who tries a T-Amp with them. T-amps are great for desktop computer systems.
As for the comments about my Hafler DH-220 amp, yes it's old. I thought it sounded pretty good after it got warmed up - very euphonic like a tube amp. It has a very long warm up time, and sounds terrible cold. One thing I really like about the t-amp is that it sounds basically the same the minute you turn it on as it does 2 hours later. I certainly don't think the Hafler was the last word in accuracy, but it was a solid mid-level amp in its day.
I find it very strange that people who diss the T-Amp on measurement grounds recommend buying a vintage 1970s mid-fi receiver. Those things were not accurate. Certainly less accurate (with all of their tone stages and AM-FM parts, and crummy noisy switches) than either a Hafler DH-220 or a T-Amp. I also have an Adcom 585 dual mono amp in my big rig. I need that beast to power my big old B&W 801 speakers. It sounds great, but there are aspects of the T-Amp that are better (quieter, no warm up, puts out a more delicate sound). The amps are in totally different classes. But the T-Amp does some things really well. Everyone who has heard them is impressed. Yes, there is limited power output and bass rolloff, but everything has tradeoffs.
I think we're going to see a lot of good sounding reasonably priced digital amplifiers in the near future. But for the time being, there is nothing in the price class of the T-Amp to compare with it. You have to get to $130 or so before there is anything else worth considering.