Tesseract86, Are the bookshelf speakers going to be stand mounted, or put onto an actuall shelf? Placement is somewhat critical...more on that later if u'd like. I'd start off by looking at the Focus series...Forcus 140 (bookshelf). However,considering the sub that u've purchased, I might consider the Focus 220II flstanding, or the Contour S3.4. It will be the same footprint as a stand mounted bookshelf speaker and render a more robust and refined sound. Don't worry about a "muddy base sound." You can address this with proper placement. Note: The only thing u have to be concerned with is wheather or not ur AVR has enough juice to drive the towers. Obviously, ur AVR400 will drive them. The question is whether the AVR400 will allow u to realize the full potention of the speakers' performance...something to consider. If u really enjoy music, this recommendation should satisfy u to no end...given a well conceived source component (Blu-ray/CD Player). I've owned the Contour S3.4's in a previous system. I now use the Dynaudio Confidence C2's for my front channel in my HT system. Like u, I tend to hold on to components for a long time.