Small-ish speakers for a very large room?

Hello,

I recently moved into a new condo which has a really large living room. The room itself is probably 35' x 17' with 12' ceillings; but the room is actually a partial loft - the wall opposite the stereo only goes up 7' leading into a 14' x 14' bedroom.

Needless to say, the room sounds pretty cavernous.

I have always built my stereo built around listening - I have a full Lineaum home theater (the Lineaum-brand 2-way tower speakers with the LX-5's as surrounds, and their "matching" center channel). Unfortunately, since I moved, everything just sounds anemic.

It's probably time for a change anyway - so I'm looking into a few different options. Unfortunately, I'm also on a tight budget.

How do people think that the Magnepan MMG's would do in a room this large? What other reasonably priced speakers would do well in a room so volumous?

I have no qualms with going with used speakers - I just want to spend less than $1000 for the pair and less than $500 for the matching center. I'm also not opposed to bookshelf speakers or speakers that would necessitate a sub for home theater.

Thanks in advance for everyone's advice.