B&W 685 or Paradigm Titan/mini Monitor V6

So I'm new at all this and am looking for advice for first time buying. A friend of mine has B&W 601(?) speakers and loves them and they do sound good. So that's where I started, I also found a forum that recommended Paradigm speakers which based on the reviews I've sound like they are good for the price offered. But I'm still not sure what I should be looking for before I go out and demo these. My budget is kind of small and would like to spend no more then $700 for the speakers, I'm looking for speakers that would be good for music (mostly rock but my tastes and albums do range quite a bit) and movies. Are these speakers a good start or are there other brands I can check out that are better within my price range? Also, I should note that at the moment I own an old Marantz 1060 receiver, but I plan on replacing it with one that will allow for the best sound (in my budget) with the speakers I buy.

thanks