JHZR2, because you started the thread with the discussion of 5.1 speaker packages and surround sound receivers, I may have steered you in the wrong direction. If music is your main goal and you don't care much about surround sound in movies, then I'd forget all this surround speaker/sub stuff, and spend your money on two high quality tower speakers. The key point is, trying to match a bookshelf speaker with a sub is almost never going to produce as smooth of a frequency response as a single full-range speaker. rpn453's recommendation for Paradigm is a good one. You should be able to find a local Paradigm dealer near you for auditioning. In your price range, something from their Monitor line should fit the bill... maybe the Monitor 7 or 9. Or maybe even their Studio series... not sure what they go for. You can also check sites like audiogon for used gear.
Pair that up with a nice amp (sorry, I don't know them well enough to recommend anything specific) and you'll have 2-channel stereo sound that will outclass any of those 5.1 HT packages mentioned earlier.
As far as what makes a sub musical, it's the ability to clearly produce many different tones of bass as opposed to a single 'thump' note. I own the 8" Hsu, and while it blends nicely with my bookshelf speakers for music, when watching movies, it doesn't make quite an impact I hoped it would. If I were to do it again, I'd get the STF-2 or the PB10 instead. But then again, I live in an apartment and can't really crank up my audio too much as it would disturb my neighbors, so getting a more powerful sub right now would probably just get me in trouble. One of these days...
Pair that up with a nice amp (sorry, I don't know them well enough to recommend anything specific) and you'll have 2-channel stereo sound that will outclass any of those 5.1 HT packages mentioned earlier.
As far as what makes a sub musical, it's the ability to clearly produce many different tones of bass as opposed to a single 'thump' note. I own the 8" Hsu, and while it blends nicely with my bookshelf speakers for music, when watching movies, it doesn't make quite an impact I hoped it would. If I were to do it again, I'd get the STF-2 or the PB10 instead. But then again, I live in an apartment and can't really crank up my audio too much as it would disturb my neighbors, so getting a more powerful sub right now would probably just get me in trouble. One of these days...