Which Home Theater speakers for under $28,000.

Sorry guys & gals let me expand a little. I am building a new home and theater. My total HT package is arround 40,000 for speakers & equipment. I have a recliner picked out for an additional $3,100. In the past I enjoyed dual channel sound from Prodigy speakers and Levinson equipment. I no longer own this system. I agree the electrostatics may not be the way to go with a HT & music system so I am willing to try something else. Great responses, keep it up. Thanks

Just wondering why anyone should listen to Cinema systems when he cant even put a system together for himself..yet he seems so eager to bash others ideas....
"minimalistic"...there is an under-statement, down right weak for such a big ego.

I love how dealers talk their book. I love that many have never heard the equipment that they disparage. I did not suggest that anyone look at a Gallo Due (learn what the equipment is named before you talk smack about it, think a DEALER would know that), in this price range. It also is amazing that The Absolute Sound's reference surround system is a total Magnepan system. But Cinematic Systems knows that dipoles are terrible for theater, so much for trade publications and all that knowledge the Editorial staff there has. They should have known to call the Niles Audio dealer from Pig's Knuckle Arkansas before they put that system together.

In your price range Maggies, Innersounds or Vandersteens would be great systems. Cinema SLAM comes from the subwoofers, in general, and all of those are augmented by such. A Maggies system would need multiple subs, maybe a Vandy 2wq up front and a dedicated LFE sub for soundtrack. A Sunfire True Sig would do the trick, there are a lot of very good "Boomers". If you want just one, a Velodyne DD18 would compress the whole room and integrate very well for music.

Once again, before you listen to some guy who claims to be some type of audio dealer, read some opinions of other users and trade pubs. You already have an excellent set up it appears, and there is so much good equipment out there that for $30k you will be very happy. Just stay away from Charlatan "Dealers". I guess if you worked at Radio Shack for a couple of weeks in 1978 you can call yourself a dealer.

JBL K2's and 2- Velodyne DD15's are good place to start lift off.

Electroman, I'm not familiar with the conversion from cu. feet to sq. feet. What's the sq. footage of your room? Am I way off thinking it may be about 30' x 15'? (My sq ft HT is 23'x13' with ceiling of roughly 8'. Multiply them together and I get 2,392 - is that right for cubic feet?)
Obviously, I'm not expert; would appreciate a post clarifying.
Anyway, if my calculations are correct/ballpark, then this room Electrostatman is discussing is not monstrously large, and Speakers such as Eminent Technology's, Magnepans, or Vandersteens could certainly work. Especially if supported by twin subs.

If I'm way off on the measurements, I'd have to reconsider.

Electro. maybe you would like to determine how much personal effort you want to put into assembing your system. $30k is a big chunk to spend on components assembled from Agon recommendations.
You obviously have deep enough pockets to afford spending a few dollars on consulting. Seek out the highest quality audio salon near you (or two). Be very up front; tell them you're paying them for an hour or two of their time for expertise. Not for their equipment. Ask them to put together the best possible system for the $, using both items they sell as well as ones they don't.
If they don't want to play that game, walk away.

But, if they are willing to consult and sell a combo of their pieces as well as other recommended components, you could end up with a significantly better system than finding things on your own. They may give you insights you'd never learn on your own.
Again, if it's made clear you're paying them for consulting, then you don't need to feel obligated to buy their systems. They should know that up front. If their equipment/recommendations has enough merit, then they'll profit from it.
I paid $70/hour for a HT consultant from a high end independent audio shop when I built my HT. VERY worth the money spent. I would suggest two consultations with different shops. Amazing what you can learn from competitors.
I also recommend a subscription to "Home Theater Builder" magazine, if you plan on rehabing the room. Even if not, it's a terrific read to give you ideas on what kind of equipment you could pursue. You can obtain back issues. When spending that kind of $, you want to get the room "tuned" well too.
The difficulty with all this is that it seems you won't get to hear the final system until it's up and running in your room. To do that, you'd likely have to support the local audio shop by purchasing from them, and they could loan components to you to demo. If you want to go it on your own, spend lots of time researching the components and thinking about compatability/integration, i.e. will all components be able to be controlled by universal remote.
If you get some esoteric equipment that doesn't have remotes, etc. you may be frustrated at having to mess with switches all the time, etc. Also, if this will be used by family members, you need to keep it simple enough operationally, or it'll collect dust.

One last thought; become intimately familiar with audioreview.com an excellent source to weigh in on used equipment being considered.