Are 'Thin-Tower' Speakers Voiced for HT?

These inexpensive tower speakers are a very crowded segment. They usually sell from between 1000-2000, and have very good bass response for their size and price, offering the seemingly impossible for audiophiles on a budget. They especially appeal to those of us who have been living with bookshelves, and want an upgraded, more full range sound.

Looking around the web sites for some of the mfg's, some openly claim that the speakers 'work well' as L/R channel speakers in a HT system. Most who admit this also add, as an afterthought, that the speakers are excellent for music, too.

Other mfg's simply market them as audio speakers, and add (again, as an afterthought) that they make excellent HT speakers!

Now, my understanding is that good HT speakers will be slightly forward in the mid range, as this makes dialog more audible and clear. Reading most of the reviews of these products, many of the reviews indeed include praise for the speakers' midrange reproduction, and for their suitability with Jazz and vocals.

Is it true that for $1000-2000 audio budget, a bookshelf speaker made specifically for 2 channel audio would be the better choice for music fans, and that if one desires a full range floor stander, one should be prepared to spend appreciably more for a pair voiced for music, or use a good sub made for 2 channel audio?

Is this a prevalent problem in the speaker market today, that mfg's are trying to kill two birds with one stone, and find the HT market appealing for it's profit potential, but don't want to lose it's traditional audio customers? So they build and design speakers that sound good in a HT environment, but take care to market them to both audiences.

I'm just wondering, because I don't want a speaker that was designed with HT in mind, no matter how good they might sound for music. I want a speaker designed and voiced for music. Does anyone have any suggestions for differentiating the two kinds of products?

Terry