Budget Speaker Recommendation?

If I was looking today based on your description, I would seriously consider the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR

Andrew Jones is a legendary speaker designer, formerly with
KEF and now with Pioneer's luxury brand, TAD Loudspeakers.
He is typically found designing loudspeaker systems in
the 30,000 and up range.

He designed these loudspeakers and they have been reviewed extremely favorably in the audiophile press.

They were designed to sell for 250-300, but Amazon has them for 129.00 and if you'd like to add the subwoofer, it is 129.00 as well. No fancy veneers here, but the drivers are far better than any speaker in the sub 500 range.

I have a pair of these on a very low cost tube integrated in my office system and the sound is truly remarkable. At 129 per pair, it is a miracle that they can sell this kind of sound for so little........

There's an interview on youtube with the designer, look up Andrew Jones Home Theater Geeks and you should find it.

Also many reviews on this series of loudspeakers.

Don't let the brand name fool you. These are the best Pioneer speakers in terms of value that has ever been made and you can do no better south of 500.00 or so....

You would be hard pressed to better the Behringer Truth monitors. They have flat, smooth response from 50Hz and up and most importantly, fit your budget.

Check out Parts Express for the Behringer B2031P.

You can also see actual measured response at Zaph Audio in the Blog section.

If you can afford to bump up to $ 500.00...here's a damn good floor standing speaker that takes up a small foot print perfect for your room. The ARX A-3. Has a very high quality ribbon planar tweeter and high quality drivers. High end sound for the price. Go to Audio Insider online.
They are the exclusive internet dealers.